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GM's Hummer Brand To Be Sold To a Chinese Company
An anonymous reader writes in to note that GM will sell its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. of China, a little-known industrial firm. For now, the deal will save 3,000 jobs in the US. (The military HumVees are made by a separate company and are not involved in this deal.) "As part of the deal, some GM plants will continue to build the Hummer brand for the new owner, at least for awhile. The company said its Shreveport, La., plant will keep building Hummers for the new owner until at least 2010. ... GM said it sold 5,013 Hummers worldwide in the first quarter, down 62% from the 13,050 that it sold in the same period the prior year." AP coverage has more details on GM's planned divestitures, including the shedding of Pontiac, Saturn, and Saab.
... but news for nerds? I'm not seeing it.
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
Save Jobs, Fuck The Planet! The motto of the new depression. Roll up, Roll up, get your tickets here for the latest 'End of the World' show!
News flash...most of the products purchased by people who don't own Hummers are also made in China.
at the gas station in Wisconsin where I got "told" by a guy bitching about my Toyota.
Despite the fact that my truck is built in Texas by Americans with 85% US content apparently the "profits" all go back to "Japan" SO THERE! (never mind Toyota being on the NYSE and the "profits" go to the shareholders...)
I can't imagine what this guy will do now when a new Hummer - built in Louisiana by Americans, but owned by the Chinese - pulls up to the pump!
I would love to be there when it happens though! ack ack ack....
I like microcars
The "bankruptcy" is really just a wealth (for lack of a better word) transfer. And by transfer, I mean theft. Contract law was ignored when deciding what secured debt holders deserved. Tim Geithner's hand is shoved up the banks, GM, and Chrysler like a ventriloquist dummy, so they can do nothing but nod their heads. Not that the banks mind too much -- the revolving door between treasury, federal reserve, and the investment banks looks like a bukake session with you and i in the middle.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
American Culture: Made in China
Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
I never thought I would see the day that an iconic US American brand being sold off to a Chinese company.
This is truly unprecedented.
If they had been making the EV-1 instead of the Hummers all this time, they would have probably gone bankrupt ten years ago. So... no.
I find it hilarious that you're defending an H2 as a serious offroad vehicle instead of a fullsize chevy with a body kit. If you need 12" clearance, get a pickup and lift it a bit. At least you can get them in diesel.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
After 2014, it won't matter much. Many of the patents are due to expire.
even what American's fondly call beer.
I'll have you know, America produce quite a bit of very good beer. Show up in seattle and I'll introduce you to some.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
Does that take into account that the new hummers are nothing like the old ones? I see a H2 and think soccer mom in a 4x4 rather than military. Not much of a "Heavy Industrial Machinery Co." left in them now.
What does GM China making sales in China have to do with the army riding jeeps?
I mean seriously, who in their right freaken mind would ever buy any of the assets from GM?
Well, this Chinesse company, for one...
And anyone who can read a report on GM's actual assets. If Clinton had gotten first-world healthcare for the United States when he tried. GM would be as solid today as friggin' Microsoft. And if GM could have waved a magic wand and lost its retiree debt, we might have flying cars by now.
We had electric cars 100 years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car#1830s_to_1900s:_Early_history
And there's been manufacturers that made them over the years since then, too. It's doubtful that they'd have had mass appeal if GM had started manufacturing the EV1 10 years ago, because 1) gas was still cheap, and 2) there were still some technological barriers in place. The combonation of those two factors is what prevented the electric car from being manufactured en masse, not GM's decision not to keep making it.
And why are electric cars gaining in popularity today? Because gas has become significantly more expensive, because a greater proportion of the population has become aware of the environmental issues we face today, and the impact our actions are having on it, and because there've been some major breakthroughs in technologies such as batteries that have made building and operating an electric car a more economical proposition.
If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
Yeah calling a Hummer an off roader is pretty funny. You would think here in AR, land of the redneck, there would be plenty of those fugly things, but the only ones you ever see are being driven by doctors who not only never go off road but would have a coronary if they even got them dirty. The off roaders and the rest of us just laugh at those things and make "sorry about your penis" jokes.
Here it is the F150, the Ram and the Ranger. The Vulcan V6 Rangers actually are very popular for the off roaders here. They are light enough they rarely get stuck and have plenty of power and the cast iron V6 is tough as hell. I know I wouldn't give up my Vulcan Ranger for one of those sissy new Hummers if you paid me. The new ones look like a soccer mom ride, not a mud slinger.
I say let the Chinese have the damned things. Those things just don't compare to a well built Ford or Dodge truck. The only Hummers I ever see are being driven by doctors and lawyers who are afraid of scratching the paint, about like those Lincoln Navigators being driven by their wives. Why anybody would want a vehicle that sucked that much gas and cost so much they were afraid to really get anything done in it more than carrying groceries is beyond me. Good riddance.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
(bear in mind you may not be one of the protected (USA IT/college educated) class that you are now, and this is a nonreversible, binding decision)
Huh? You are saying that I choose between what I am now, or lower class in China? Or are you saying that I choose between lower class in the US vs middle class in China? Having been over there a few times, I can tell you that the middle class there lives better than the poor here. If I had to choose between a job here or a job there of the same level and both equal to what I have now, I'd choose there. Why? Because there is no national debt, and there there is one and only one political party, and everyone knows it. Here, there is only one party, but people are confused as to how the Republicrat party works. They are an up and coming country and being involved in that economy is much more interesting than hanging around with the downward spiral of the US. However, there are other countries I'd pick before China, and I'm waiting on paperwork (all applications done and fees paid, just playing the waiting game) before I pack up and leave the US for long enough to get citizenship in another country so I have some place to live when the US collapses for good.
Learn to love Alaska
Yeah calling a Hummer an off roader is pretty funny.
It's nothing more than a marketing trick based on association with the military HMMWV, which worked brilliantly. The humvee is a vehicle to make its predecessor jeep proud. It has an angled independent suspension that puts the gear box, drive shaft and other parts well off the ground for huge clearance. It's a great off-road vehicle, reliable and rugged.
Civilian versions are nothing like that, since they're based off completely different chassis. But hey, they look pretty similar if and if you never take them off the road you probably won't even notice. So it's kinda like you own military hardware! How bad-ass!
The enemies of Democracy are
Watch out RIAA/MPAA your industries are next. The market will handle you as well.
Eh so what. The money will move(diversify?) into into other markets, and we keep the same people in charge.. What's changed? The market is dumb. Where's my AM stereo?
Todos mis movimientos están friamente calculados
While I do tend to refer to them as US citizens, the term "American" is not ambiguous.
After all the Brazilians usuallly call themselves Brazilians and not Americans. The Canadians would agree they're technically Americans, but they'd rather avoid the term and stick to being called Canadians. Same goes for the other countries.
Who else in the world would call themselves Americans? The people of the USA that's who. The ones who would hold a "world series" where the rest of the world doesn't show up. Or have an International Code Council that's not actually international, that creates an "International Building Code" that isn't, etc.
At least they've stuck to calling themselves "Americans" - would be a bit confusing if they enlarged their claim.
China becomes the new superpower and America takes up France's position of Ex-Superpower Turned Whiney Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys...
Uhh, I live in one of France's neighbouring countries and have to say that I rather have a bunch of cheese eating (especially since they have excellent cheese, but I digress) surrender monkeys then a congregation of war mongering torturers with dellusional tendencies as neighbors.
But your mileage may vary, of course.
ich bin der musikant
mit taschenrechner in der hand
kraftwerk
They should have seen $4 gasoline coming, and even before the credit collapse they were losing massive amounts of money. GM's entire philosophy over the last fifteen years was to make large profits selling luxury trucks and SUV's, and they declined to invest in the future or diversify their products. Toyota and Honda spent that same period of time investing in hybrid technology and fuel efficiency while at the same time making trucks and SUV's, and now they are in a significantly more competitive position.
At the very least, they could've seen the writing on the wall a couple years ago like Ford, and pre-emptively reorganized their company. They did *nothing*, it is entirely their fault, and they deserve to fail.
Well, compared to Japanase/Korean/European engines, the engines built in the US aren't particularly well-known for their sophistication or efficiency. Just for their cubic inches. Seeing that some European 1.6 litre 4-cylinder engines already churn out 275 bhp and 240 Nm, 350 bhp from a 4+ litre V8 isn't particularly impressive. Especially if you look at the mileage.
Agreed, I propose we use the word "Fatty" instead since it's shorter and more descriptive.
I think the important issue from GP post is that GM is merely a side effect of more general problem US (and to less extent UK) economy has - they let the finance industry grow without any limits and it did grow to the point that it was more reasonable to invest in snake oil eeeee virtual financial products 'decoupled' from reality then into something real. The consequence as could have been expected was the demise of other industries and growing of bubbles wherever virtual wealth tried to become real exactly as if finance were affected by malicious cancer. Now we have a problem apparently the biggest economy in the world is seriously sick. The finance part of it albeit sick too is still considered better place to invest money than local finance industry in china for instance. I wonder what happens when inevitable change in perception occurs.
I doubt the Chinese are interested in building Hummers. However, they are very very interested in owning the intellectual property rights to certain components such as engines and transmissions. Once they are legally in the clear and have a good design, they will be able to build and sell a car for the US market.
Disclosure - I live in China.
But that was my point. GM is not merely a side effect of a more general problem in the US. The financial crisis has finished off GM, but they were already losing money before the economy dropped off a cliff. They didn't go bankrupt because the economy collapsed, they went bankrupt because they were mismanaged. They couldn't afford to stay in business, even with the government giving them billions of dollars a month. Somehow Ford, the European automakers, and the Japanese automakers all managed to stay solvent in the same market.
My kayak and various camping gear, workstands, tools, etc, don't fit on my bike, sorry. Bikes don't work so well in the winter to get to the mountains to ride my board either. And hundreds of miles of hilly roads aren't exactly fun on the bike, and not possible for a weekend away from work anyway.
But, to you city dwellers, enjoy. Some of us have good reason to own a car, and perhaps even a truck. Enjoy your concrete jungle that is so well suited to the skinny high pressure tires.
My kayak and various camping gear, workstands, tools, etc, don't fit on my bike, sorry.
How often do you go camping? Once a year? Have you heard... you can "rent" a car :) (or truck or whatever suits your fancy)
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.