But the Hummer comes with incentives for buyers that go beyond the merely symbolic, if the buyers have corporate status. Because it has a gross vehicle weight rating of over 8500 pounds, it is not subject to the special rules that limit depreciation of vehicles.
A small business can write off $15,000 on a $50,000 Hummer right away, then depreciate the remainder over a 5-year period (an additional $7,000 the first year, and $11,200 the next year). A lighter $50,000 cars or truck would get the $15,000 write-off, but much less regular depreciation thereafter.
The appeal to "small businesses" (read "lawyers and doctors") is, I submit, the only reason that the Hummer--or the Lincoln Navigator or the Chevy Suburban--weighs as much as it does.
--tim francis-wright