GM to sell Hummer to Chinese company

[Steel]

DETROIT – General Motors Corp. took a key step toward its downsizing on Tuesday, striking a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese manufacturer, while also revealing that it has potential buyers for its Saturn and Saab brands.

GM has an agreement to sell its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. of China, said a person briefed on the deal.

Full Article

Sad day...looks like my current HUMMER will be my last. 

[Darkhorse]

DETROIT – General Motors Corp. took a key step toward its downsizing on Tuesday, striking a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese manufacturer, while also revealing that it has potential buyers for its Saturn and Saab brands.

GM has an agreement to sell its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. of China, said a person briefed on the deal.

Full Article

Sad day...looks like my current HUMMER will be my last. 

Yup-posted that about an hour ago in the "merged " thread.

It's not so much the sale of Hummer that worries me, the Chinese auto industry getting a foot in the door here is something the US automakers don't need right now.

[AVnFun]

I thought Penskie was looking at buying Saturn

[Darkhorse]

I thought Penskie was looking at buying Saturn

Him and 15 others.

I'd love to see Saab go to Koenigsegg, imagine what they could do with it.
http://www.koenigsegg.com/

[Dealer Services]

 

[MS03 2500]

I wonder if it will start looking like this

Mini Hummer

[cadboy1]

We will finally get that H4 

[Flint4x4]

It's not so much the sale of Hummer that worries me, the Chinese auto industry getting a foot in the door here is something the US automakers don't need right now.

Article I read said they make towtrucks, cement mixers, 4,000 employees and plan to keep Hummer production in the USA. The thinking is they bought Hummer mainly for the dealership network. If they plan to market specialized heavy duty trucks in USA/CAN it would be a simple matter to make them look like Hummers to better use the dealer network and brand recognition.

It's possible future Hummer passenger models could still be built by GM or contracted to other US based assembly factories. Maybe a Fiat/Jeep produced H4 marketed by Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., STHIMC Hummer   

[Web]

I also saw it said  they will build here until 2010....     So they have a year to build a new plant in China?


As part of the proposed transaction, Hummer will continue to contract vehicle manufacturing and business services from GM during a transitional period. For example, GM's Shreveport, La., assembly plant would continue to contract to assemble the H3 and H3T through at least 2010, GM said. AM General LLC in Mishawaka, Ind., makes the larger H2 under contract for GM.

[Flint4x4]

That would be thru 2010 as deal isn't expected to be done until Sept '09, GM is already tooled up to build the H3/H3T so no problem since Shreveport, LA isn't on the plant closing list. They don't plan to build the Hummer in China, so they say. Even Chinese Hummer owners don't like the idea much, much more prestige owning a GM built imported Hummer.

I wouldn't expect STHIMC to announce any further plans until long after they complete the deal. They could contract the next version of Hummer to another company than GM for 2012 model year. I'm sure they have plans but nothing in concrete yet. (Pun intended, they make cement mixers)   

[ltxi]

Sad day...looks like my current HUMMER will be my last. 

Why? Would you not buy a Japanese car today? Details aside, subtract 40 or so years and you have a lot the same deal. STHIMC is a respected company, as Chinese companies go. Where better for an industrial company to hedge holdings of an unstable dollar than a short sale in a production commodity with a built in niche market. And since China already owns most of our money........

[Steel]

Why? Would you not buy a Japanese car today? 

Absolutely not…never owned a rice burner…never will. 

The closest I’ll ever get to driving a non-US owned brand, is a GM truck built in Mexico.  And believe me, even that gives me pause.

[Darkhorse]

Article I read said they make towtrucks, cement mixers, 4,000 employees and plan to keep Hummer production in the USA. The thinking is they bought Hummer mainly for the dealership network. If they plan to market specialized heavy duty trucks in USA/CAN it would be a simple matter to make them look like Hummers to better use the dealer network and brand recognition.

It's possible future Hummer passenger models could still be built by GM or contracted to other US based assembly factories. Maybe a Fiat/Jeep produced H4 marketed by Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., STHIMC Hummer   

Tengzhongs website indicates they have their fingers in a lot of pies-so to speak, but nothing that looks like the Hummer fits neatly into.
 Before researching the company, I, like you, speculated that they were like Geely, Chery or one of the bazillion other Chinese Automakers who are not only already building Jeep and Hummer "clones" but would love to expand their business into the U.S. and want the dealership network and manufacturing facilities. Maybe they are, but it seems a lot of Chinese are scratching their heads about the purchase too.
 The articles only mention U.S. manufacturing so far-wonder how this will affect places like Russia or South Africa?



...China outsourcing to America, how strange.

[Flint4x4]

I didn't assume, I speculated    STHIMC is in the process of buying Hummer, they have said they want to build a more fuel efficient version in the future and keep production in the USA. Presently they have no manufacturing facilities here so all we can do is guess how long the H3 will be built by GM. They could always bring back the H1, I'm sure AM General is interested in building Hummers. 

I hadn't thought beyond the US market much really, with the worldwide recognition of HUMVEE & Hummer 
Hummer towtrucks ? Hardly anyone in China had ever heard of Tengzhong commercial trucks, they have now     

[Darkhorse]

I didn't assume, I speculated    STHIMC is in the process of buying Hummer, they have said they want to build a more fuel efficient version in the future and keep production in the USA. Presently they have no manufacturing facilities here so all we can do is guess how long the H3 will be built by GM. They could always bring back the H1, I'm sure AM General is interested in building Hummers. 

I hadn't thought beyond the US market much really, with the worldwide recognition of HUMVEE & Hummer 
Hummer towtrucks ? Hardly anyone in China had ever heard of Tengzhong commercial trucks, they have now     

You're right, speculated is a better choice of words.
 I'm sure AM general is very interested in building Hummers which was what promped my post in the other thread, guessing that the Renco Group (parent company of AM General), along with the Chinese (several companies interest), could be the then unnamed purchaser. According to their website, they still manufacture the H2 for GM in Indiana, wonder how the sale will affect them.

Hmmm, you may be on to something-instant worldwide recognition for their previously unheard of brand, that alone has got to be worth a fortune. Hummer is an internationally recognized brand and as far as I know, only despised by certain "elements" here in the U.S.-everybody else seems to like them.

[Flint4x4]

Hmmm, you may be on to something-instant worldwide recognition for their previously unheard of brand, that alone has got to be worth a fortune.

The Humvee and therefore Hummer has had free exposure via CNN and every other news channel since Desert Storm. AM General probably gets some sort of royalty fees no matter who owns the Hummer marketing rights. GM shelved the replacement for GMT900, I'm sure the next generation pickups will be more fuel efficient when they roll out. That would fit the bill for a new Hummer, it could be built by GM if sales volume warrants or AM General on a GM platform in lower numbers.

Who owns who in the automotive sector is near impossible to keep up with.   

[Darkhorse]

Who owns who in the automotive sector is near impossible to keep up with.   

It get's harder by the minute too, I guess Tengzhong hadn't bothered to ask it's government's permission to buy Hummer before the big announcement 


General Motors Corp.'s planned sale of its Hummer brand to a little-known Chinese truck maker could be blocked by regulators who have not approved the deal and are questioning its wisdom.
Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. and GM have given no financial details about the planned purchase of the American maker of gas-guzzling, military-style SUVs.
However, any such deal would require Chinese Commerce Ministry approval at the provincial level at least.
Reports in the Shanghai Securities News and other state-run newspapers Friday said Sichuan Tengzhong had not yet obtained such an approval. They also raised questions over whether the deal will be allowed to go through, with one report likening Tengzhong's plan to acquire Hummer to a "snake trying to swallow an elephant."


the rest:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Reports-question-Chinese-apf-15447168.html

[Flint4x4]

It get's harder by the minute too, I guess Tengzhong hadn't bothered to ask it's government's permission to buy Hummer before the big announcement 

Why would you bother with redtape to get government approval before knowing if your bid was accepted ?

If it's not approved General Motors now has a clear starting value on Hummer for the next buyer's bid.

[Steel]

And then there's this:

Tengzhong may build new Hummer plant in Chengdu

June 04, 2009Shanghai, June 4 (Gasgoo.com) Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co, a machinery company based in western China, will spend 550 million yuan (US$80.5 million) to buy Hummer brand, and invest another 450 million yuan to set up a new Hummer production line in Chengdu, the capital province of Sichuan, Chengdu Business Daily reported Thursday, citing a letter of intent from Tengzhong.

Full Article

[Flint4x4]

A new Hummer plant in China doesn't preclude them from continuing to contract with AM General and/or GM to build Hummers in the USA. If they only have 4,800 employees and have deep pockets to afford to purchase the Hummer brand name then expansion is the obvious next step.

The real questions are what do they intend to build and where do they plan to market it ?

[Tango Chaser]

The real questions are what do they intend to build and where do they plan to market it ?

It's the next big thing in circus vehicles. 

[Steel]

GM's Shreveport, La., plant to shut by 2012

[MS03 2500]

Hummm I wonder about that, maybe the deal fell thru.

[Flint4x4]

GM only agreed to build H3s for a specific time period.

Once that platform is discontinued then the next generation Hummer could be based on almost anything,...
there is no way to know yet, future Hummers could get sheet metal by GM and sit on a Jeep or Toyota chassis/drivetrain

[Darkhorse]

http://biz.yahoo.com/top.html

Report: China likely to reject Hummer acquisition

China's planning agency is likely to reject a Chinese company's bid to acquire General Motors Corp.'s Hummer unit, in part because its gas-guzzling vehicles conflict with Beijing's conservation goals, state radio reported.
The National Development and Reform Commission is also likely to say Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp., a maker of construction machinery, lacks expertise to run Hummer, China National Radio said late Thursday. It cited no source.

Tengzhong said it has yet to reach a definitive agreement with GM, which the company said previously was required to make a formal request for government approval of the deal.
GM said the planned sale would save some 3,000 jobs in the United States. Tengzhong said it would invest in research to create more fuel-efficient Hummers and would keep Hummer's headquarters and manufacturing in the United States.

The Chinese government is trying to promote conservation and use of more fuel-efficient vehicles. It has cut sales taxes on cars with smaller engines and is encouraging automakers to develop electric and other alternative-energy vehicles.

Communist authorities are encouraging companies to expand abroad to diversify the economy but have cautioned against being too hasty or ambitious.
Tengzhong is privately owned, which means it is free of some of the controls on Chinese state-owned companies. But regulators still can block foreign acquisitions.