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Chinese owner for Hummer

BanSUVs — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:42:14 +0000

GM has sold the Hummer brand to a privately owned Chinese company, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery.

Specializing in heavy industrial and construction machinery, Tengzhong is based in the Schuan province and should have the deal wrapped up by the third quarter of this year.

Although the exact details and amount of money changing hands with regards to the deal are still secret, Credit Suisse is representing Tengzhong whilst America’s Citi bank is acting as financial advisor to GM.

Hummer’s 150 US dealers are expected to survive, yet with its unbundling from the GM stable, new manufacturing facilities will be needed, with the Shreveport, Louisiana plant (responsible for H3 and H3T) still on contact until the end of next year.

GM’s South African manufacturing facility in Port Elizabeth, which built right-hand drive H3s, is in the process of shutting down Hummer production.

AM General’s Mishawaka plant, located in Indiana, faces an uncertain future as it produces the oversized H2 Hummer derivative.

Although US workers will be glad the brand’s core management and dealership network remains, Oriental analysts are at a loss trying to understand the value of the deal. Tengzhong has no experience in the car industry and Hummer is a poisoned chalice of sorts in a world turning away from brash, inefficient, SUV vehicles.

One of the deal sweeteners is a long-term GM supplier agreement for Tengzhong, which could perhaps offset a loss-making Hummer purchase against high revenue supply contracts.

Source

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Hummer H2 Plant Halts Production

BanSUVs — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:47:13 +0000

Along with a host of other layoffs announced Monday, HUMMER H2 maker AM General announced it was temporarily laying off 200 workers from its civilian line. According to an AM General spokesperson Craig Mac Nab, plant production will be shut down until at least March.

Workers leaving Monday afternoon were largely mum except for one who told local CBS affiliate WSBT, “”Nobody’s safe in this day and age.”

AM General in the past has been able to shift some workers from its civilian operations to its military plant, and that may be an option now for some workers.

“What we are doing at considerable difficulty and expense to the company is moving all eligible employees from the H2 workforce into other parts of the company — finding them jobs,” said Mac Nab. “That will start to happen at the beginning of March. Some of the older employees have already been moved.”

AM General nor HUMMER would speculate on when the H2 production would ramp back up, and Mac Nab added, “Nobody knows what’s going to happen with the H2 plant.”

The loss of jobs can be largely attributed to GM’s announcement Monday to cut 2000 jobs and slow production at nine plants across the country.

Source

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BREAKING: GM to close 4 truck plants, may sell or close HUMMER

BanSUVs — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:12:18 +0000

At the General Motors annual meeting in Delaware today, CEO Rick Wagoner will be publicly announcing the latest restructuring round for the beleaguered automaker. In response to plummeting sales of large trucks, GM will close down four more North American Assembly plants by 2010. The plants in Janesville, Wisconsin, Oshawa Ontario, Moraine, Ohio, and Toluca, Mexico are already running reduced production schedules and will cease operations entirely as products are discontinued or shifted to other plants. The Janesville plant builds medium trucks and SUVs while Moraine builds the old body on frame Trailblazer, GMC Envoy and Saab 9-7x SUVs. The other plants build full-size pickup trucks. The closures affect 10,000 employees at those plants. Those that aren’t among the 19,000 who are taking buyouts will be offered transfers to other locations to fill spaces vacated by the departing workers. The closures are expected to save GM about $1 billion a year.

Wagoner will also be announcing that GM has begun a strategic review of the HUMMER brand. We contacted GM spokesperson Joanne Krell this morning who told us that the review has just begun and there is no time frame for a decision. “The HUMMER brand is a great brand and we’re probably not maximizing it to its fullest. Perhaps somebody else would have that opportunity.” All options are being considered including “ramping up the portfolio,” shutting the brand down or “selling it in whole or in part.” At this point, GM has not had any discussions with other manufacturers about the possibility of a sale, which won’t happen until the review is completed.

On the positive side of things, the board of directors has approved production of a new small Delta platform car (the eventual Cobalt replacement) at the Lordstown, OH assembly plant next year. The Chevrolet Volt has also been approved for production in 2010 at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant.

Source

Chinese owner for Hummer GM has sold the Hummer brand to a privately owned...
Hummer H2 Plant Halts Production Along with a host of other layoffs announced Monday,...
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Hummer H2 To Die By 2011

BanSUVs — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:41:18 +0000

It seems the death knell of the Hummer H2 has been sound. Yes, that’s correct, we’ve just received word a decision came down within the last few weeks at the General to end production of the H2. But if you’ve been holding off on buying that H2 with the 28 inch DUBs and sound system with enough power to make you sterile, don’t freak out just yet. Instead of getting the axe right away, we believe the H2 will be allowed to live out its current product life cycle. This probably means the 2011 model year will be the H2’s swan song. Full death-filled conclusion to every environmentalist’s favorite target after the jump.

While we can think of a few reasons for the demise of the Hummer H2, one reason is greater than the rest — CAFE. Up until recently, the H2 had been exempt from Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards due to it’s gross vehicle weight rating. Vehicles above a 8,500 lb. GVW rating did not have to comply with CAFE. The H2’s GVW came in at a convenient 8,600 lbs. Just hulking enough to miss the Federal fuel economy misers. However, with the new standards passed by Congress at the end of 2007, the H2 would fall under the CAFE umbrella by 2011. No official fuel economy number have ever been released on the H2, but most reviewers have observed an average somewhere between 12 MPG and 9 MPG. That means continued production of the H2 would’ve taken a huge, wet, 87-octane bite out of GM’s CAFE pie that no number of Aveos sold could fill.

Past its fuel economy woes — or likely because of them — the H2 wasn’t exactly flying off dealer lots as of late. Only 12,431 people decided they couldn’t live without an H2 in 2007, a sales figure 27.3% lower than the heady, fuel-friendly days of 2006.

The H2 was also the only vehicle left still being built on the General’s ol’ and busted GMT-800 chassis. With all the other large GM SUVs and trucks now on the newer GMT-900 chassis, the idea of spending money on the older platform may have quickly fallen out of favor with “Slick” Rick Wagoner and “Maximum” Bob Lutz.

Source

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GM Expands SUV Recall

BanSUVs — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 12:38:02 +0000

Over half of a million vehicles in six states may be recalled due to possible antilock brake corrosion! Included in the recall are the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL from 1999-2002. This is on top of the nearly 800,000 vehicles from 14 states originally included in the recall in August.

Could you imagine having a six thousand pound monster plowing into (and over) you at full speed, unable to brake?!? Can they possibly make these vehicles any more dangerous? Thankfully, the brake problem is being addressed. The next things that need to be addressed are the gross overweight issue and extreme over-waste issues!

More info here…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10587963/

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