Rumors have been floating around all day since General Motors’ announcement early this morning that its off-road-ready Hummer brand will be sold to Chinese manufacturing company Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company. According to Hummer’s current CEO – who won’t be retained by the Chinese – the new buyer will expand the brand’s lineup and keep its United States dealership network.
The new Hummer will become the first mainstream Chinese brand to do business in the U.S. – but that’s not a bad thing, says Hummer CEO Jim Taylor, who spoke to Automotive News about the company’s new owners.
“We’ve been in talks with these guys for over six months,” Taylor told Automotive News in an interview. “The reality is in China you have folks that are willing to make investments all over the world and they go on a world search for a business that would be complementary for them.
“They see a lot of growth potential with this brand both inside and outside of China.”
Hummer’s 150 dealerships in the United States will survive, but since the automaker will no longer be a part of GM, it will have to set up its own engineering facilities. Taylor says that the Chinese owners plan to keep engineering in the U.S. and the company’s Shreveport, Louisiana, plant, which builds the H3 and H3T, will operate on a contract basis through at least the end of 2010. Taylor did not comment on the AM General plant in Mishawaka, Indiana, that builds the H2.
“We will be investing in the Hummer brand and its research and development capabilities, which will allow Hummer to better meet demand for new products such as more fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S.,” said Yang Yi, CEO of Tengzhong in a statement.
The release also confirmed that Tengzhong will expand Hummer into new global markets, particularly China.
GM and Tengzhong expect to complete the deal by the third quarter of 2009. Credit Suisse will act as Tengzhong’s financial adviser, while GM will use Citi.
06/02, 5:14 PM
posted by:
Lariat Luxury Locomotive Liner No.3
The Chinese Hummer version = unsafe at any speed.
06/02, 5:14 PM
posted by:
Borat
Chinese Hummer.I just like repeating it, like David Letterman does sometimes.
06/02, 5:16 PM
posted by:
Borat
Just imagine them buying Mini from BMW and combining the brand…………….. Johnny, any followup?
06/02, 5:25 PM
posted by:
JakeK66
GM and Citi should make a good team!
06/02, 5:33 PM
posted by:
leftwingagenda
i was wondering who was going to be irrational enough to buy hummer, now we know, i guess…it’ll be very interesting to see if a business which is so unprofitable here right now will work in china…they obviously think it will, but i’m doubtful…
06/02, 5:39 PM
posted by:
Madcapp
I got news for you…you’re wrong.
06/02, 5:44 PM
posted by:
hummah
Hopefully they retain the god-awfully ugly styling and make it with even less quality than GM did. Then maybe the whole thing will be a flop so I will never have to look at some preppy asshat in a new Hummer ever again.
06/02, 5:44 PM
posted by:
leftwingagenda
general tso, your chariot has arrived…
06/02, 6:10 PM
posted by:
aggie531
how can GM sell Hummer but kill off Pontiac? its retardiculous
06/02, 6:23 PM
posted by:
A4
See the new Hummer H9: Apocolypse Edition at your local dealer in 2015.
06/02, 6:24 PM
posted by:
A4
leftwingagenda, they will make it profitable by cutting every corner they can. That’s just how the Chinese do it.
06/02, 6:36 PM
posted by:
AutoCritical
Does anyone remember that horrific crash test of a Chinese mid-large sized car? How the A-pillar just… SNAPPED! – lol – I’m sure if they are being sold to the US, they will pass the safety standards test…I hope…
06/02, 6:51 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Sorry Borat, I missed that. I was busy biting the heads off the tiny shrimp in my War Wonton.
06/02, 7:51 PM
posted by:
The Stig
@A4,
So if they cut every corner they’ll make the shape more rounded?
06/02, 8:46 PM
posted by:
gta89mike
Aggie – Pontiac is not for sale at any price because there is still value to GM for Pontiac. If GM wants to bring back Pontiacs sometime in the future, they won’t have to buy it back.
06/02, 9:19 PM
posted by:
RaineMan
Expand Hummer’s presence? Riiiight, sure. I think Mr. Chang over there has been knocking back a little too much sake. Maybe if they make an H4 that’s the size of a Ford Escape and gets 30MPG. Otherwise, no way… it will never work.
06/02, 9:25 PM
posted by:
Hyperion
“the new buyer will expand the brand’s lineup”
I don’t know how you can do this unless they start competing with Subaru by doing a couple of Hummer cars in AWD/4WD that can actually do a little offroading. The original H1 is the only good vehicle in the bunch: a military grade tank of an offroader that is priced high enough to be out of reach for the wannabes.
… but I forgot, of course, a Hummer to most Americans is nothing more than a status symbol to brag about and burn gasoline with while going slower than a Corvette– not a durable tool to be used for occasional offroading and rock crawling.
06/02, 9:28 PM
posted by:
Borat
Mikie, Pontiac gone, man. Of course it had to happen after I purchased one and its not so old, but already priceless (no one gives sh*t for it).
06/02, 9:30 PM
posted by:
Borat
Johnny, are you completely drunk? You can wash down tiny heads with beer, don’t work hard humering them off.
06/02, 10:06 PM
posted by:
elviososa
Remember Buick that sucked in the US sell like hot cake in China??? I am sure it Hummer will have a bright future under the Chinese Co,
06/02, 10:11 PM
posted by:
Rafa LL
They want to change the world but they don’t have a big enough diaper.
06/02, 10:14 PM
posted by:
elviososa
By the way…LLN….why are you taken down my comment about that Hummer going to the Chinese company from last night??? It was before GM announced it to the public?? Were you under the pressure from GM or something???
06/02, 10:39 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Borat, don’t try and tell me you don’t like a little head every now and again. And of course I’m drunk. This is usually about the time Pazzo posts and it’s the only way I can understand him.
06/03, 9:24 AM
posted by:
zfenderguy
I’m no tree huggin’ hippie, but I do fid it funny that the Chinese cowboy’d up for the Hummer Brand. A company from the single worst environmentally offensive country in the world buys up the symbol of environmental ignorance in America. If not for anything else, the purchase sheds a little light on the ignorance to environmental image that persists and is a long way from changing over there.
With that said, I hope their plans for expansion involve that H4 that was put off a year or so ago. That thing was just what Hummer needs to be making.
06/03, 9:46 AM
posted by:
Borat
Chinese Hummer better then Korean!
06/03, 11:00 AM
posted by:
shaver
No surprise here. I wonder what Robby Gordon is gonna race in Dakar and baja now?
06/03, 11:10 AM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Shaver, check out http://www.planetrobby.com
06/03, 11:11 AM
posted by:
leftwingagenda
even with cutting corners, i don’t see how they can make it profitable…that would take sales numbers…is the median income in china able to support 50k+ trucks? is there really a market for them? hummer was profitable for gm at one time, but emphasis on the ‘was’…when the market dropped out from underneath, hummer was were hung out to dry, is the chinese economy really that much better off than we are right now? that’s what i’m doubtful about…
06/03, 12:55 PM
posted by:
shaver
Johnny; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd_2Kj0tFfU
06/03, 1:25 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
…ya gotta love the guy!
06/03, 6:23 PM
posted by:
Get Real
They will be back in large numbers when China invades what is left of the USA.
06/03, 8:24 PM
posted by:
Rafa LL
It will be called the Hong-Mer.
06/04, 1:15 AM
posted by:
elviososa
I am expecting Wal-Mart to be the new Hummer’s dealer. This would be such a excellent idea.