Filed under: SUV, Plants/Manufacturing, GM, Hummer, Off-Road

Unless a buyer for Hummer materializes in the next few months, General Motors will continue to wind-down its environmental group dart board. The slow death of Hummer has actually been in process since before The General announced that the sale of the brand to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery fell through, as the company’s Shreveport, LA facility stopped making H3 and H3T models in January.

But while Shreveport has been down for two months, it looks like the plant could dust off the H3 tooling to fill one more big order. Brandcentric site Hummerguy.net is reporting that GM is ramping up production of the H3 from April 12 to May 13 to fill a 849 unit order. The General reportedly didn’t announce the purchaser of the reported mega Hummer order, but the Detroit, MI-based automaker did say that the order was not related to the brand’s wind-down or sale.

We’re thinking this news won’t stop Hummer from off-roading into the sunset, but it does at least prove that there are still people that like Hummers. Now all GM needs is a Hummer lover with a spare $150 million laying around the compound to step up and buy the withering brand.

[Source: Hummer Guy]

Hummer plant coming back online to fill 849-unit order? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hummer plant coming back online to fill 849-unit order?

Filed under: SUV, GM, Hummer, Earnings/Financials, Off-Road

Although it has been evident for some time that General Motors‘ sale of its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd., we didn’t expect for word to come down today that the negotiations are dead and the brand will be wound down. Unfortunately, judging by a press release just issued by GM, that’s exactly what will be happening. According to John Smith, GM’s vice president of corporate planning and alliances,

“One year ago, General Motors announced that we were going to divest Hummer, as part of focusing our efforts on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac going forward. We have since considered a number of possibilities for Hummer along the way, and we are disappointed that the deal with Tengzhong could not be completed.”

As we learned from the Saab sale saga, GM announcing that the brand will be wound down does not completely extinguish hope for another buyer to slip in in the 11th hour, but it does seem highly improbable that a new party will pick up where the negotiations with China’s Tengzhong left off.

In the statement available after the jump, GM does not specify what killed the planned sale of the brand, but rumors in recent months suggested that the Chinese government was not keen to sign off on the deal. At the moment, it is unclear what will happen to Hummer’s H2 and H3/H3T models, but it is likely that the tooling and manufacturing rights will be sold off to other companies. It is also unclear how many employees will be out of work as a result of the closure.

As with the wind-down of its Saturn and Pontiac brands, GM has pledged to honor Hummer warranties and continue to supply service and parts.

[Source: General Motors | Image: Scott Olson/Getty]

Continue reading BREAKING: GM announces Hummer sale cannot be concluded, brand to be wound down

BREAKING: GM announces Hummer sale cannot be concluded, brand to be wound down originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BREAKING: GM announces Hummer sale cannot be concluded, brand to be wound down

Filed under: SUV, China, Government/Legal, Hummer, Earnings/Financials

It looks like General Motors‘ deal to sell its Hummer brand to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery is on shaky ground. According to Reuters, the likelihood that the Chinese government will give its approval to Tengzhong has been waning in recent weeks, leading the would-be purchasers to consider making the acquisition using an offshore investment vehicle to skirt the need for Chinese regulatory approval. GM and Tengzhong had originally set a January 31st deadline to complete the sale, later extending that time frame to February 28th.

The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce are thought to have taken issue with the idea of such an environmentally unfriendly automaker coming under Chinese ownership. Further, Tengzhong has never actually made a passenger vehicle, and China already has over 100 companies producing automobiles and the government has gone on record saying it would like to reduce that number. Stay tuned.

[Source: Reuters]

Hummer deal with China’s Tengzhong looking shaky originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hummer deal with China’s Tengzhong looking shaky

Filed under: China, Etc., Videos, Hummer, Humor

Hummer may be the most hated automotive brand in the history of the green movement, but even Al Gore has to admit that there are times when a big, hulking SUV is necessary. The snowed-in residents of Baltimore City are likely very happy there was at least one H2 nearby when one of their massive snow plows got stuck in a couple feet of the white stuff. We’re not talking a 20 year-old Super Duty with a blade here folks. Nope. We’re talking one of those massive International trucks with four full-sized doors and a plow bigger than your typical midsize sedan.

Hit the jump and watch as the H2 digs deep and rescues the much larger plow truck from the indomitable snow drift. That’s enough of a sign of force to make a Chinese company very proud. Or not.

[Source: WBAL TV]

Continue reading Video: Hummers still good for some things, like towing giant snowplows

Video: Hummers still good for some things, like towing giant snowplows originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Hummers still good for some things, like towing giant snowplows

Filed under: Sedan, Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, GM, Hummer

Lost in the hoopla surrounding General Motors’ attempted sale/wind-down of Saab and Ford’s situation with Volvo and Geely has been any word surrounding the sale of Hummer to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery. Whatever the state of the Hummer transaction, it appears The General is done waiting. The Detroit News reports that GM plans to halt Hummer production at its Shreveport, LA assembly plant on Monday until a sale of the brand is complete. The factory builds the H3 and H3T (models that account for about 25-percent of the plant’s overall production) and the General says it’s premature to speculate how much the facility’s 1,120 workers will be affected.

Hummer dealers currently have a stockpile of about 2,100 H3 variants on lots – enough of a supply to last seven months at the model’s current take rate. Hummer spokesman Nick Richards told the DetNews that H3 production will ramp back up after the sale “once marketing kicks back in and there is new interest and enthusiasm.” Of course, if the Hummer sale ends anything like GM’s Saab and Saturn debacles, that date could be never.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Report: GM to idle Hummer production on Monday until China deal goes through originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: GM to idle Hummer production on Monday until China deal goes through