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DETROIT -- When AM General Corp. starts production of a smaller version of its Hummer sport utility vehicle (SUV) for General Motors Corp. in 2002, it will be working with steel bodies rather than the aluminum used on the bigger, existing Hummers.

GM sources here said that the automaker's own mill suppliers of galvanized and cold-rolled steel sheet probably will furnish the body materials for the new vehicles. The Detroit-based automaker is making preparations to produce the body stampings itself.

The smaller vehicles, known as the Hummer 112, are expected to be produced in volumes of around 40,000 per year initially, consuming an estimated 33,000 tons of flat--rolled steel in body, closure-panel and frame components. When steel for other parts applications and in other forms--such as bar, rod and wire--is taken into account, the H2s are expected to consume a total of at least 60,000 tons of steel annually.

These estimates, based on interviews with a number of GM sources, will not impress many people in the steel industry--except for those who are familiar with the history of the aluminum-intensive Hummer military and civilian vehicle program. Over the years, that program has been the subject of many talks at trade conferences on aluminum as a substitute material and on aluminum parts-fabricating techniques.

GM's decision to build the H2s in steel is going to disappoint aluminum sheet producers. Although the existing Hummers--now known as the Hummer H1--will continue to sport aluminum bodies-in-white, aluminum industry executives thought the smaller vehicles also would enter the market with light-alloy bodies.

The H2 is going to be built off GM's standard-size pickup truck/SUV frame and reportedly will have a curbweight in the 5,800-pound to 6,400-pound range. That's big by present-day automotive standards, and one of the factors that led people to believe GM would specify aluminum as the body material.

GM engineers and executives did consider aluminum, but have now all but finalized plans to build the bodies in steel. "It is virtually a cinch that they'll be fabricated in steel," said one GM executive. A near-prototype concept of the H2 was shown for the first time at the 2000 North American International Auto Show here last month, and the body of that vehicle was fabricated for display purposes in steel. As designed, the production vehicles will have two-side electro-galvanized steel in most of the body and closure panels, with the only major exception being the hoods, which may be produced in plastic. The roofs probably will be cold-rolled steel, and some of the major frame components will be tubular steel made from hot-rolled feedstock. Some of the closure panels are slated to use medium-strength steel, and some of the structural components will make use of high-strength grades.

The pre-production H2 display vehicle looks a lot like the Hi, with its broad, flat surfaces and a body that is wider than it is high. It will seat five people, but is approximately 7 inches shorter, 2.4 inches lower and almost 5 inches narrower than the H1. But like the Hi, the H2 will be built high off the ground and be equipped with 4-wheel-drive for good off-road performance.

Another disappointment for the aluminum industry is the fact that the NAIAS model used GM's Gen. III Vortec 6.0-liter V-8 gasoline engine, which has cast iron heads and block.

However, the transmission in the vehicle is aluminum intensive, and the 112 also has several other applications for aluminum, including the 19-inch three-piece wheels; the transmission case and cover; and a number of steering, brake and suspension system components.

It will be assembled at a new $200-million plant in South Bend, Ind., AM General's head-quarters location. As a result of a formal agreement worked out late last year between the two companies, GM now owns the Hummer brand and has exclusive rights to expand the Hummer lineup worldwide. Company sources already have said there will be another model--the H3--in the product line in the foreseeable future, but they gave no details on that vehicle design.

The fact that steel is GM's choice for the H2 body is a significant victory for the steel industry, because the Hummer line has for years been held up by the aluminum industry as an important example of what can be accomplished with aluminum sheet. In addition, the 112 will be a pricey vehicle built in relatively low volumes of only 40,000 per year-two factors that often favor substitute body materials.

On the other hand, GM has no plans to change the body material for the Hi, and the aluminum industry should feel good about that. A]so, GM and Alcan Aluminium Ltd., Montreal, are now in the second full year of a 10-year aluminum. supply and technical-assistance agreement that is expected to open up more avenues for the use of aluminum in sheet as well as other forms in GM's vehicles in the future.