Autos: 2008 winners and losers

The bottom line is that high gas prices pushed customers away from truck-based SUVs, which are all Hummer sells.

And as a love-it-or-loath-it niche product, Hummer has always been highly dependent on new model introductions that sell hot for a while, then fizzle.

When sales of the original H1 started to fade, the smaller H2 came in to pick up the slack. Then, as the H2's welcome wore thin, in rode the smaller-yet H3.

But with H3 sales way down, Hummer could use another all-new product. (The Hummer H3T, shown here, just isn't new enough, or small enough, to do it.) But that will have to wait while GM decides whether to sell the brand or keep it.

NEXT: Biggest market share gain: Honda