Filed under: SUV, Truck, GM, Hummer, Rumormill, Off-Road

As a brand, Hummer has been in limbo since General Motors announced it was selling the downtrodden marque to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd. Speculation remains that the sale could be completed on or around December 1, pending approval from GM and the Chinese government. For now, everything is on hold, though Tengzhong and new Hummer CEO Jim Taylor are apparently still working hard to plan Hummer’s future.

First on the “Honey Do” list is to arrest the free-fall of Hummer sales. Right now, sales are down 64% on the year to about 8,500 units, but Hummer is looking for 25,000 sales in 2010. That will be a tough nut to crack, but Automotive News reports that the company optimistically plans to get things done in part with some aggressive marketing. Ultimately, however, new product will be needed to get dealerships buzzing with customers again. In the meantime, Hummer’s 154 U.S. dealers need more inventory in the showrooms to help move metal. AN says that dealers only have 1,300 units in stock, compared to the 7,400 vehicles at the same time in 2008.

The last piece of the Hummer reclamation project is adding those new models. When Tengzhong gets the keys to the Hummer kingdom, it will also receive engineering plans for the H4, a new smaller model that is reportedly based on the HX Concept from the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Taylor reportedly told AN that Hummer’s Jeep Wrangler fighter could arrive within three years. Also possible is an even smaller Hummer H5, which would help the SUV automaker to meet future CAFE requirements. Taylor even goes as far as to say that the smaller H4 and H5 could one day replace the brand’s heavier and thirstier H2 and H3 mainstays. The next big challenge for Hummer once the sale becomes final is to find a manufacturing partner to build these vehicles. GM will reportedly cease building Hummer models as early as the end of 2010.

[Source: Automotive News - subs req'd]

REPORT: Hummer getting plans in order for H4 and H5 models originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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REPORT: Hummer getting plans in order for H4 and H5 models

Filed under: SUV, Truck, China, Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, GM, Hummer, UAW/Unions

Cedric Glover, the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, went to Washington, D.C. to plead his case for the sale of Hummer to Tengzhong. The only thing is, we’re not sure why he went. To be more precise, we do know that he wants to protect jobs at GM’s Shreveport plant that builds Hummers. The plant has about 800 workers who build some of The General’s pickup trucks and Hummer models, and the loss of The Big H would undoubtedly put people out of work.

What we’re not sure of is what he thinks Washington has to do with it. He did ask that a couple of D.C. muckety-mucks “consider reaching out to the Chinese government to urge immediate approval of the Hummer deal,” but Washington hasn’t expressed any opposition to the deal and probably couldn’t get the deal concluded on the Chinese side any sooner — never mind the fact that Hummer is the least of Washington’s concerns as far as China goes.

We’ve been told by one source at Hummer that although nothing is final until it’s signed, they feel good about the deal, and Tengzhong must have known what it was doing when it made the bid in the first place. Yet beyond all that, as it stands today the Shreveport plant has three years to live at most: the facility wasn’t part of the Hummer sale, and GM said it would shutter the place by 2012 at the latest. Mayor Glover wants to save jobs in his town, which is great, but unless GM starts going gangbusters (and soon) then Glover could be playing the Deck Chair and Sinking Ship game.

[Source: HummerGuy]

Shreveport, LA mayor lobbies D.C. to close the HUMMER deal, already originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shreveport, LA mayor lobbies D.C. to close the HUMMER deal, already

Filed under: SUV, Truck, China, Hummer

According to Automotive News, the deal between General Motors and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery to offload Hummer should be complete by October. A statement made by STHIM’s general manager, Yang Yi, further suggests that the Chinese company has no plans to export Hummer’s equipment and/or technology to its home market, meaning that the truck brand’s offerings should remain North American produced for the foreseeable future.

The details for Sichuan Tengzhong’s winning bid for Hummer have not been disclosed, but according to AN, investment bankers are suggesting that the deal was likely brokered for around $100 million in cash, and Yi confirmed that the Chinese heavy machinery company would not be assuming any of GM’s debt in the process.

Assuming STHIM and General Motors can sew up the bid for Hummer (in the third quarter or otherwise), the Chinese government will still need to grant approval before the deal can move forward.

[Source: Automotive News]

REPORT: Sichuan Tengzhong to finalize Hummer deal in third quarter, keep U.S. production? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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REPORT: Sichuan Tengzhong to finalize Hummer deal in third quarter, keep U.S. production?