Filed under: SUV, Truck, Recalls, GM, Hummer

General Motors has just announced a sizeable recall on Hummer H3 models manufactured between 2006 and 2010. According to Consumer Reports, the vehicles have defective hood louvers that could come loose over time and detach from the vehicle while driving. The tabs that hold the louvers in place have been found to break, causing vibration that can lead to total separation.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is warning H3 owners to be on the lookout for any vibration of the louver assembly, as that may be an indicator that a failure is likely. A total of 162,000 Hummers are covered under the recall, and General Motors says that technicians will apply an adhesive in order to keep the louvers from coming loose at no cost. Owners may contact Hummer at 800-732-5493 or visit the NHTSA recall site for more information.

[Source: NHTSA via Consumer Reports]

GM recalls 163k Hummer H3 models for hood issue originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 05 May 2010 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GM recalls 163k Hummer H3 models for hood issue

Filed under: SUV, Truck, Government/Legal, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Hummer, Off-Road

General Motors has already begun turning the lights off at its Hummer brand, though that may be no fault of multiple potential buyers. We’re not just talking interested parties from China here, either. According to brand enthusiast website HummerGuy, several American-based companies have expressed viable interest in snapping up the SUV-slinging manufacturer over the past few months. Even more surprisingly, all of the potential offers have reportedly fallen on deaf ears.

Both Raser Technologies and Electric Motors Corporation have supposedly made The General offers worth considering, and GM has left them unanswered. These whispers haven’t just been crawling around the web – they’ve evidently made their way all the way to Illinois Senator Roland Burris (above), who has promised to look into the matter himself.

While we’d be thoroughly surprised if such an investigation had any repercussions, we have to wonder why GM would say no both of the EV builders unless it thinks it can make more money winding down the brand by selling off tooling and manufacturing rights, or perhaps just avoiding bureaucratic headaches. Some experts believe GM might be worried about competition from future extended-range EVs, but we have a hard time imagining one of the world’s biggest manufacturers losing sleep over a couple of startups. Either way, as with Saab before it, there remains a sliver of hope for the brand, but we certainly wouldn’t bet on another eleventh-hour miracle.

[Source: HummerGuy | Image: Burris.senate.gov]

Report: Senator to investigate GM’s handling of Hummer deal originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Senator to investigate GM’s handling of Hummer deal

Filed under: SUV, Truck, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, GM, Hummer

It’s getting tough for even the most ardent supporters of the Hummer brand to continue to keep hope alive. Reports the aficionados at HummerGuy.net: “While many of us were hoping for a last-minute miracle to save the Hummer brand, signs from Detroit are indicating that Hummer production will soon cease indefinitely.“

It appears as if General Motors has resigned itself to winding the brand down and letting it die a slow, agonizing death. The automaker says that it’s no longer considering offers for the brand and dedicated Hummer staff are reportedly be assigned to serve elsewhere.

Oh, and about that “Save Hummer” summit that’s planned for April 11th near Chicago? GM, though it is aware of the rally, has no plans to send representation. That sound that you hear? That’s just the tolling of Hummer’s death knell. Thanks for the tip, Brian!

[Source: HummerGuy.net]

Report: Last-ditch sale effort for Hummer post wind-down announcement fading originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 13:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Last-ditch sale effort for Hummer post wind-down announcement fading

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