The corporate design...

The corporate design features a curved steel roof and large glass facade. Visitors enter the showrooms by walking through the middle of a giant "H" which straddles the door. However, up to 20 American outlets - 10 per cent of the entire network - have had the eye-catching design rejected by local residents.

Hummer"s dealer in Novi, Michigan - which is only a few miles from parent firm GM"s base in Detroit - is one site where civic officials have had the last word. The Nissen hut was rejected, and the revised version features plain brick walls with numerous small windows.

The town"s director of planning, Barbera McBeth, said: "We feel it makes the city more presentable to residents and visitors." A Hummer spokesman claimed the design was never meant to be universal, but interior details such as high ceilings and the brand"s leather furniture would be the same across the country.