Hummer is history, no takers for GM's SUV brand
Reportedly the sale of the SUV brand to a Chinese company has collapsed. GM said it would still hear offers for the company, but potential investors would have to move fast. GM will continue to honour warranties for current Hummer owners.
“In the early phases of the wind-down, we’ll entertain offers and determine their viability, but that will have to happen in pretty short order,” GM spokesman Nick Richards told the Associated Press. GM’s bid to sell Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co failed. The Chinese manufacturer said it failed to get clearance from regulators in Beijing within the proposed timeframe for the sale. Nevertheless GM will continue to honour warranties for current Hummer owners. “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.” Hummer won hearts with Dubai shaikhs for its ability to tread through sand dunes. It also had a great fan following with the richest people on the globe. However, its massive fuel-requirement and rising gas prices led to its downfall. Hummer sales peaked at 71,524 in 2006. But they collapsed when gas prices shot above $4 a gallon in the summer of 2008 and never recovered. In December 2009, only 325 Hummers were sold, down 85 per cent from the previous year, according to Autodata Corp. With the collapse of the brand, even the jobs at GM will face losses. The plant that also builds the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks once employed about 3,000 people, but that payroll has been reduced to about 950. Plant worker Alex Santana, a 17-year veteran of the Shreveport operation, said the end of Hummer “is going to hurt a lot of people.” “There’s a lot of jobs going down the drain,” he said.
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