GM to end Hummer after sale to Chinese buyer fails

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The Associated Press
Wednesday, February 24, 2010; 3:44 PM
DETROIT -- General Motors Co. said Wednesday it will shut down Hummer after its bid to sell the brand to a Chinese company collapsed.

Heavy equipment maker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. pulled out of the deal for Hummer, known for its hulking, military-like SUVs, because it was unable to get clearance from Chinese regulators within the proposed deal timeframe, the manufacturer said in a separate statement.

GM said it will continue to honor existing Hummer warranties.

"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 has been trying to sell the loss-making brand for the last year and found a suitor in Tengzhong, but resistance from Chinese regulators created difficulties from the start. As recently as Tuesday private investors were trying to set up an offshore entity in a last-minute effort to complete the acquisition head of a Feb. 28 deadline.

Hummer is the second brand after Saturn that GM has failed to sell as part of its restructuring. GM sold Swedish brand Saab to Dutch carmaker Spyker Cars NV earlier this year. Pontiac is being discontinued.

GM is focusing its efforts on its four remaining brands: Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick.
 
Damn
smh.gif
 
The deal had no chance of going through. Those damn chinese regulators are impossible to convince.
 
Originally Posted by CarolCitysFinest

GM needs to drop buick and keep pontiac.

Buick is ridiculously successful in Asia.  They look at it like you look at a Bently.  It's very prestigious.
 
G.M. had been trying to sell Hummer for nearly two years, and struck a preliminary deal with Tengzhong last June. The two companies had planned to close the $150 million deal by the end of January, then delayed the deadline by a month in the hopes of getting the green light from China.

Doesn't seem like a lot of money for a deal involving a car company.  Anyone know how these things work?
 
Originally Posted by FrenchBlue23

Good Riddance!

Gas guzzling mofo.


Man-made global warming is a hoax or didn't you know?  It's no skin off your nose if they got 1 mpg.

All that matters in this case is that an American brand, along with American jobs, is being shut down.

Nothing good about that whatsoever.
 
now how will all of those dudes compensate for their abnormally small penises? Sad day for the guys not packing anything.
 
Originally Posted by F A Y B A N


G.M. had been trying to sell Hummer for nearly two years, and struck a preliminary deal with Tengzhong last June. The two companies had planned to close the $150 million deal by the end of January, then delayed the deadline by a month in the hopes of getting the green light from China.

Doesn't seem like a lot of money for a deal involving a car company.  Anyone know how these things work?

I don't remember the details of that deal from when wsj published all the specifics, but what I do know is that the chinese company in question is a very big domestic player thats basically a japanese-style zaibatsu ala mitsubishi heavy ind. in the sense that they make everything from trams to tankers, and have a big hand in domestic infrastructure development like the japanese co's did. Factor in growth figures in China even in this economy with cities growing from 0 to 2 M in population in just a few years.

Getting to the point, they have all the technology to manufacture whatever they want, cheaply. Its not like a co. going the route of acquisition to acquire market share because of an industry having proprietary manufacturing systems/capabilities.

I'm willing to bet Hummer (as a brand of GM), in this economy, is far worse off volume wise ,than AM General, the company that sold GM the name for the consumer market.

The deal with the chinese co was probably just that, world-wide rights to some or all Hummer IP, and maybe guaranteeing some US-based jobs, plus taking of existing debt which im sure the company has. It takes literally billions to develop a new car from scratch (thats why manufacturers with multiple brands love to use "interchangeable parts" ie same engines, chassis, parts, etc), so there's no way hummer was including any kind of production facilities or supply chain in that price. They probably just wanted to build cheapo hummers for the domestic market and maybe later on export them.

At least hummer keeps its legacy this way, whatever left of it...
 
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