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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.
Well if any company was to own the Hummer brand, it should have a name including "Heavy Industrial Machinery Co." in it.
I love hummers, and I don't care if I get it from an American or a Chinese.
Who are these 5,013 douchebags still buying Hummers? =P
... but news for nerds? I'm not seeing it.
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
I wonder if anyone will buy Saab now, it has had worse sales than Hummer for a long time.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/02/by-the-numbers-may-2009-gm-and-ford-surprise-edition/
The above link has some sales data.
The real problem isn't that Hummer is sold, it is that the bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler have both been shoved down the companies and investor's throats. So they will trot out that they saved 3,000 or so jobs. What about the 100,000 plus jobs lost when all the dealerships are being forced to close, even ones who make a profit? A considerable number, if not the majority, of dealerships being punted are profitable.
This is all about Wall Street and not Main Street. The people tasked with doing these close outs and sales are all Wall Street regulars. If Wall Street had been held to the same standards as Detroit the change might have been something I could believe in. Instead communities are going to face real problems when dealerships close. Yeah, 3000 jobs is nice but it is a nickle on a Cadillac in terms of loss/gain. In other words, who the flip cares?
Hummer. Funny thing is they will survive in the real world and not the alternate reality world the US has become.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Military Humvees are made by AM General, who sold the rights to the civilian versions back in 99 to GM I believe. This won't affect the military production lines in Indiana.
From what I'm told, AM General makes the HumVee, which for the original Hummer, was sold to GM as-is (well, a stripped down version anyhow). GM then painted them, added luxuries and such and then sold them to the public. That's why the H2 and H3 were so different compared to the original H1 - GM does not own the design of the H1 at all - they merely resold the hardware after some modifications. The H2 and H3 were original GM designs.
So no, the Chinese are not getting military information out of it, other than perhaps how to add leather seats and cupholders to an existing H1.
News flash...most of the products purchased by people who don't own Hummers are also made in China.
My goal of getting a hummer from a cute Asian girl is that much closer to completion!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
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
Just kinda writes itself, really.
Don't forget the other modifications from the Tahoe. You know, the extra weight, woeful aerodynamics and awful use of interior space. It's kind of like an inverse-Tardis, it's smaller on the inside than it looks on the outside.
sustainable living
Neither. The military versions are called HMMV, which people tend to sound as HumVee. The GM product is called H1/H2/H3 Hummer and is based upon the Chevy Suburban Platform. Mainly the entire division is a marketing drone's wet dream as the best Mileage I've seen listed for the Hummer was 12MPG on the highway. Simply put, what killed the division is the low mileage and fuel guzzler tax here in the states because the vehicles simply couldn't get any mileage at all unlike the Real HMMV, that avgs. 20+mpg and the engine is a true multi-fuel capable. Primary is diesel but it will run on damn near anything including gasoline, ethonal and even what American's fondly call beer.
Mod me up/Mod me down: I wont frown as I've no crown
The H1 was built by AM General, who makes the military HMMWV on which the H1 is based. Of the current models, the H2 is built by AM General under contract from GM (its a GM design, based on the same platform as the Yukon and Tahoe) in Indiana. The H3 (based on a different GM platform) is built in Louisiana and South Africa as you describe.
The H2 and H2 are HMMV-styled bodies on standard GMC truck frames and running gear.
China goes chumming for American brands. Who's next, ChitiBank?
The original post has
Before you worry about soldiers of US army and marines riding on Chinese made jeeps, you should also note that GM China has made recorded sales in China, despite of its parent's woe in the US. I personally did notice quite a lot more Buick's running in the city of Shenzhen than on the streets of California. When I was over there, I owned a Buick myself which was made in China but with US-made engines and transmissions; whereas i own a Japanese car here in California. Strange world.
Why is it edited away? Is / . censoring our post, because the news of american company doing well in China does not fit the site's editorial agenda?
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.
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"
Keep plowing ahead ignoring your customers.
After all, they'll buy what you damn well want them to buy, right? Wrong. GM had piss-poor leadership, management with no vision. They kept making product that no one wanted to buy. The market handled GM alright.
Now, just think if GM had treated every potential customer that entered a dealership as a criminal.
Watch out RIAA/MPAA your industries are next. The market will handle you as well.
They're using their grammar skills there.
H2 = GMC Jimmy AKA Chevy Tahoe chassis
H3 = GMC Envoy AKA Chevy Trailblazer chassis