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Breaking: GM to shut down Hummer; sale of brand abandoned

02/24/2010, 3:29 PM

By Drew Johnson


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<!-- post image, END --> <!-- post body, BEGIN --> Less than a month after General Motors extended its contract to sell its Hummer brand to China’s Tengzhong automaker, The General has announced that it will not complete the deal. According to a statement released to the media Wednesday afternoon, GM will permanently wind down the off-road division as a result.

GM shut down its Pontiac and Saturn brands last year, and sold off Saab a few weeks ago.
“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,” said John Smith GM vice president of corporate planning and alliances.
“GM will now work closely with HUMMER employees, dealers and suppliers to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner.”
GM says it will continue to provide Hummer parts and service to customers around the globe. All Hummer warranties will continue to be honored

 

No major loss - they're a far cry from the HMMWV's anyway...

 

But they were such well-made, reliable, versatile, attractive vehicles.

 

Arnold likes em,,,,,,me,no

 

I saw that on the news last night. My buddy worked for a tool stocking tools for Home Depot.

He had an H1 as a company vehicle,it was cool but that thing was always in the shop. We used to toss the boards on the roof and go surfing.It was a fun surf vehicle

 

Just a status symbol. They spent more time on pavement than off-road. Soccer moms love 'em.

 

We are always razing each other about their choice of vehicles at work. One of the guys has a Hummer, told him it was pretty bad when China didn't even want the thing.

 

Unless its got a TOW missile launcher or a .50 cal BMG mounted on the roof, its just a yuppie "look at me!" status symbol...............no loss here.

 

Several years ago, I noted one of our Chev dealers building a whole new building and dealership for Hummer. I didn't think that was too bright given the limited offerings. They don't sell the H1, so you have the H2 and a couple versions of the H3. Right next to the Tahoe or Colorado they are based on.

The whole idea of Hummer as a stand alone brand is as dumb as a bag of hammers imo.

That Hummer building now has a Hyundai sign draped over it. And to be honest, I'd buy a Hyundai before I'd buy a Hummer.

 

If one were a chevy fan, why buy a hummer when a tahoe or burb will do the same for less money.

I feel sorry for the displaced workers but after the dust settles in the automotive world, the big three will all be back to basics and building the items that made them popular in the first place.

Times are a changing and the days / years of truck based SUV's as the norm are limited, IMHO.

 

I would love a HMMWV. Don't have any place to really put it to the test or park it, I just like the cool factor.

 

U.S. Military finally smartened up, they are buying Oshkoshs. Same vehicle Third World countries have been buying for generations, with our tax dollars. I believe they are going with the M-ATV. If I could have any Vehicle out of their line up, it would be a SandCat.

 

Pardon my ignorance, but does this include the Humv the military uses as well or just the civilian market versions.

 

Copied this off the net;

The final 2,620 Humvees have been ordered from Mishawaka, Indiana-based AM General by the U.S. Army. In total, AM General has produced 240,000 Humvees since 1985.

Just as the Humvee replaced the original military Jeep some 25 years ago, today's replacement is seen as a response to a revised set of needs in the battlefield, not the least of which is adequate protection from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. More than 1,700 U.S. troops have died in Iraq alone from IEDs as of last month, and the military is responding by switching to Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, and the M-ATV from Oshkosh.

 

The Humv is done as of this October, that is when the military contract expires. They will only produce 2400 more units. I don't think they need anymore as the storage lots are full. Government Motors declined to sell to China and decided to just shut down the civilian Hummer line instead. Hummer is going the way of Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Saturn.
HMMWV or HUMVEE is the privately owned military version.
Hummer including the H1, H2 and H3 is Government Motors (GM) owned civilian version.
Many more people will be out of work this fall due to this shutdown. These are high paying jobs as some support vendors reportedly paid bonuses as high as $6000-$9000 per quarter. (That's $24,000-$36,000 per year just in bonuses!! Not as much as a Wall Street banker but excellent for this area.)