GM to end Hummer after sale to Chinese buyer fails

[swag]

Source: Washington Post

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."


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/24/AR2010022403401.html?hpid=topnews

[thereismore]

1. Good. Glad the Chinese have more brains than we do. nt

[WriteDown]

24. Sure looks that way

[liberation]

27. Yeah, because if modern China is known for...

... is for their strict environmental standards and their furthering.

[kestrel91316]

2. END Hummer? END it????? There IS a God.

[Mithreal]

11. +1

[Cirque du So-What]

3. What a waste of resources

The entire concept of the Hummer was a dinosaur - doomed to extinction from the moment some marketing wanker decided to make a scaled-down version of a military vehicle. As filled with fail as that concept was, accountants decided to cut corners by using the Chevy Tahoe frame instead of tooling-up to produce a beefier frame strong enough to support the additional weight. Now an immense factory is being idled and thousands of workers are out of work or displaced to other locations. I realize that GM got a huge mark-up on the Hummer, but if the numbers were crunched - including the human costs - I'd be very surprised to find out that they even came close to breaking even.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

39. Didn't they "create" the Hummer after 911?

I always thought it was one of those "BE A REAL AMERICAN AND BUY A HUMMER!!!" or SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND BUY A HUMMER!" Then they cost so much only the rich could buy them.

[Angleae]

43. Nope, ;they built it after Desert Shield/Storm.

Way back in the early 90s.

[tomm2thumbs]

4. never ask for a Hummer on the first date

I never understood that advice from my mom, but I guess the Chinese understood it

[E-Z-B]

37. Your mom was giving you advice about hummers?

;)

[Arctic Dave]

5. Can we dance on this grave?

[Romulox]

8. Do you understand that everyone other major car company has a full sized SUV?

Hooray for the environment!

[Arctic Dave]

9. I tend to view it as the first domino.

Shit, I work in the oilfield and I view these piles of crap as slap in the face to the environment.

[Mopar151]

6. Is there anything left of AM General? (division GM)

Original builder of H-1 Humvees, Mail trucks, and other low production specialty vehicles? Or did GM run over it in the rush to build fake (H-2, H-3) Hummers?

[happyslug]

15. AM General is still alive, it was NEVER a part of GM

Now the HUMVEE was built by AM General with a Diesel 350 CI Chevrolet engine. When GM decided to sell Civilians versions, it had AM General make the H1 on the same production line as the Military HUMVEE but then took the H1s to a separate plant to add what the GM wanted in them to sell. The H2 was produced by AM General for GM in a new (and separate) factory from Humvee production. AM General did not have anything to do with the H3:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM_General
http://www.amgeneral.com/corporate/history.php

[Mopar151]

33. Good!

So the H2 plant will be available to build what the DU Design team came up with a few weeks ago:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=9219749&mesg_id=9219749

A high-tech, hybrid version of an American classic! A great idea, whose time has come again.

[Romulox]

7. Heck of a job, Whitey! nt

[Skip Intro]

12. ?

[Romulox]

14. Barack Obama installed Ed Whitacre at the helm of GM.

It's a reference to the "Brownie's doing a heck of a job" faux pas W. made after Katrina.

[Skip Intro]

16. Ah..

got it, thx.

[Dappleganger]

10. What an epic symbol of WASTE.

Those damn hummers are everywhere around here, usually driven by upper-middle class biz owners who try to look like they have 'arrived' in life. Well now they are struggling like everybody else and they can't even sell them on craigslist hardly at all. I will not miss them on the roads one damn bit.

[harkadog]

13. Well off DUers celebrating the loss of more American jobs.

It never ends.

[Liberal Veteran]

18. By the same token, if Blackwater (or Z?) was barred from combat...

...areas and it resulted in the company having to lay off some of their mercen....er...personnel, would you shed a tear for the loss of American jobs?

[harkadog]

20. Now we are equating an American car company with Blackwater?

Please tell me what type of vehicle you find acceptable for the American public to purchase.

[Liberal Veteran]

21. Oh, so now we are saying some kind of jobs are acceptable and others are not.

Please tell me what kind of work you find acceptable for an American citizen to work in?

[harkadog]

23. I didn't say anything like that

I think any legal job is acceptable and even some that are sometimes not legal (medical marijuana, etc). Still waiting for the acceptable vehicle since Hummers are on the forbidden list.

[Liberal Veteran]

25. Even a Hummer would be acceptable if got decent gas mileage and was safe.

But, alas, where gas mileage is concerned, it is sadly lacking as day to day vehicle.

As a symbol of douchebaggery, the Hummer is right up there on my list and it is a model that I will not miss.

[blue_onyx]

30. As far as gas mileage goes...

a Hummer is no worse than other large SUVs.

[zinnisking]

22. + 1

or something.

[jmowreader]

31. I don't think too many jobs will actually be lost

The people making the H3 are screwed but they were anyway--the New GM was planning to close the Shreveport, LA, plant where it is made along with the Colorado, Canyon and I280 pickups.

The H2 is made in Mishawaka, IN, at a plant GM doesn't even own. They've got a building to make the H2, but that's convertible to make actual military vehicles. And they need to come up with something quick--after ten years in the sandpile, those aluminum-bodied trucks are probably sanded down to nothing.

[tjwash]

35. Huh? They were trying to sell the division, and move the production to China.

Screw off...get pissed at the right people at least.

[harkadog]

38. Were they going to move the dealer network to China too?

Screw off...get your facts correct at least.

[icee]

17. Thank God. An ugly tank of a car with no real utility. Put the guy that

designed this thing in the last one off the assembly line and crush it.

[DissedByBush]

42. I hope you're talking about the H2 and H3

The H1 is a hell of a vehicle.

[aquart]

19. WONDERFUL.

It's high among the stupidest ideas they ever had.

[proteus_lives]

26. Good riddance.

I fucking hate Hummers.

[liberation]

28. Will someone think of the poor insecure males?

How are they supposed to cast their mating calls sans a penile compensatory device?

[Mopar151]

32. They can use an Escalade

Men's are black, the Missus Richbich version is pearl white. Cellphone is mandatory.

[Romulox]

36. I see as many women in full sized SUVs as men. Just putting that out there.

:shrug:

[WinkyDink]

40. Topic is the Hummer. Think about its appeal to men.

[DissedByBush]

29. Good, it was crap

The original Hummer was great. The perfect four-wheelin' truck, and I've driven it through some stuff where I never thought I'd make it without a tow truck.

Follow-ups were just absurd, heavier, uglier and more wasteful versions of standard SUVs.

H2 was a Chevy Tahoe and H3 was a Chevy Colorado.

[Dulcinea]

34. They should have killed Hummer & kept Saturn.

No one needs a Hummer-type vehicle unless they're fighting a war. Other than that, it's just a manhood extender.

Saturns were good cars that deserved a better fate.

[robcon]

41. Saturn lost money - why would they keep it?

n/t

edit:typo