Unless a buyer for Hummer materializes in the next few months, General Motors will continue to wind-down its environmental group dart board. The slow death of Hummer has actually been in process since before The General announced that the sale of the brand to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery fell through, as the company’s Shreveport, LA facility stopped making H3 and H3T models in January.

But while Shreveport has been down for two months, it looks like the plant could dust off the H3 tooling to fill one more big order. Brandcentric site Hummerguy.net is reporting that GM is ramping up production of the H3 from April 12 to May 13 to fill a 849 unit order. The General reportedly didn’t announce the purchaser of the reported mega Hummer order, but the Detroit, MI-based automaker did say that the order was not related to the brand’s wind-down or sale.

We’re thinking this news won’t stop Hummer from off-roading into the sunset, but it does at least prove that there are still people that like Hummers. Now all GM needs is a Hummer lover with a spare $150 million laying around the compound to step up and buy the withering brand.
[Source: Hummer Guy]

With Hummer’s future seemingly in the hands of China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd, questions naturally turn to the automaker’s barren product cupboard. How will Tengzhong replace Hummer’s current crop of SUVs? With the news that the Chinese automaker would like to focus on more environmentally friendly models, a Romanian designer by the name of Andrus Ciprian envisions something along the lines of the compact HB concept you see above.

A Hummer wouldn’t be a Hummer without significant off-road capability, and Ciprian suggests that the HB would retain a body-on-frame design in lieu of a lighter unibody, though hewn from aluminum and carbon fiber instead of steel. Under the comely concept’s hood sits a biofuel-capable V6 engine. But those aren’t the most interesting bits of the concept, the stance and general proportions of which would look perfect on the front of a Traxxas RTR box.

Ciprian included two separate windshield designs, one of which sees the screen sectioned into thirds with a slew of cameras relaying additional information to the pilot. We’d go with the more production-likely single-piece glass. In any case, see the stunning high-res renderings in our gallery below and let us know what you think.

[Source:Autoblog]

As a brand, Hummer has been in limbo since General Motors announced it was selling the downtrodden marque to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd. Speculation remains that the sale could be completed on or around December 1, pending approval from GM and the Chinese government. For now, everything is on hold, though Tengzhong and new Hummer CEO Jim Taylor are apparently still working hard to plan Hummer’s future.

First on the “Honey Do” list is to arrest the free-fall of Hummer sales. Right now, sales are down 64% on the year to about 8,500 units, but Hummer is looking for 25,000 sales in 2010. That will be a tough nut to crack, but Automotive News reports that the company optimistically plans to get things done in part with some aggressive marketing. Ultimately, however, new product will be needed to get dealerships buzzing with customers again. In the meantime, Hummer’s 154 U.S. dealers need more inventory in the showrooms to help move metal. AN says that dealers only have 1,300 units in stock, compared to the 7,400 vehicles at the same time in 2008.

The last piece of the Hummer reclamation project is adding those new models. When Tengzhong gets the keys to the Hummer kingdom, it will also receive engineering plans for the H4, a new smaller model that is reportedly based on the HX Concept from the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Taylor reportedly told AN that Hummer’s Jeep Wrangler fighter could arrive within three years. Also possible is an even smaller Hummer H5, which would help the SUV automaker to meet future CAFE requirements. Taylor even goes as far as to say that the smaller H4 and H5 could one day replace the brand’s heavier and thirstier H2 and H3 mainstays. The next big challenge for Hummer once the sale becomes final is to find a manufacturing partner to build these vehicles. GM will reportedly cease building Hummer models as early as the end of 2010.

[Source:Autoblog]

Not so many years ago, Hummer appeared to be one of General Motors’ most potentially lucrative brands. Now, the fallen brand looks poised to fall into the hands of the Chinese very soon. Bloomberg is reporting that a deal to sell Hummer could be finalized in the coming days as Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. hammers out a purchase price. During its bankruptcy proceedings, GM estimated the Hummer brand to be worth $500 million, but last week’s collapse of the Saturn deal with Roger Penske appears to have made the Detroit automaker ready to accept whatever it can get. The final tab paid by Sichuan Tengzhong could be as low as $150 million.

The Chinese government has thus far been reluctant to approve Sichuan Tengzhong’s move for Hummer, in part because of the brand’s image as a gas guzzler. The hope is that once a purchase agreement is complete, the regulators will allow it to move forward. For its part, GM likely just wants the deal done and some extra cash in its coffers so it can move on with its streamlining efforts plans.

[[Source: Bloomberg]

With General Motors selling its Hummer operations to China’s Tengzhong, there had been some concern that the embattled state of Michigan would lose even more jobs if the SUV brand’s home base would move either overseas or out of state. But according to Reuters, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. According to company officials, Hummer LLC has secured some $20.6 million worth of state tax credits over ten years, and in turn, it expects to invest $9.4 million over five years into its new headquarters.

Reuters indicates that Hummer operations will be relocated to a location in southeast Michigan, with plans to start at 100 employees and eventually ramp upwards to 300 in a few years. A site for the headquarters has not been announced yet, but it will likely come after the deal between GM and Tengzhong is finalized.

[Source:Autoblog]

China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, the company that recently surfaced as the top bidder for Hummer, is about to start talks with Chinese regulators to secure the deal. While General Motors has a tentative agreement with Tengzhong, the two companies have yet to receive the state’s blessing, which is necessary for the sale to go through.

Tengzhong, GM and Hummer have been working on a proposal to present to the National Development and Reform Commission, despite speculation that the deal will be blocked by those Chinese officials. Tengzhong reportedly remains optimistic, saying they haven’t heard anything from the authorities and don’t expect to until their proposal is actually submitted.

Speculation that the deal was in jeopardy began when a China National Radio station reported that government regulators would block the deal based on environmental concerns about Hummer vehicles and the fact that Tengzhong doesn’t have much experience as an automaker. Tengzhong is better known as a manufacturer of special-use vehicles, structural components for highways and bridges, construction machinery and energy equipment, so some have suggested this is little more than a publicity stunt for the company, but it certainly sounds like they are serious about the deal now.

[Sources: Reuters, Wall Street Journal]

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, General Motors plans to announce a tentative sale of the Hummer brand less than a day after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Although GM won’t release the name of Hummer’s (possible) future owner(s) on Tuesday, the WSJ’s sources say that a deal could be struck by the end of the third quarter and the H2 and H3 will continue to be produced at GM’s plants in Indiana and Louisiana.

It’s been widely accepted that if GM couldn’t offload Hummer this month, it would be killed during the bankruptcy proceedings, and the General has been entertaining bids from a interest parties, including a Chinese firm, for somewhere in the sub-$500 million range since late last year. When the announcement is made tomorrow, expect GM to be hyping the sale as part of its turnaround efforts and that the SUV purveyor’s new parent will continue to work on expanding the Hummer line, including the production of future alternative-fuel models.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

[Source:Autoblog]

As expected, General Motors has announced it’s entered “into a memorandum of understanding with a buyer for Hummer,” but under the terms of the transaction, the purchaser hasn’t been disclosed.

GM’s brief release (posted after the break) scratches the surface of the plan, saying only that the deal is expected to close by the third quarter of this year, that the new investor is committed to funding future Hummer products – possibly including the H4 and a two-door H3T – and that 3,000 U.S. manufacturing, engineering and dealer jobs will be saved.

Those last two points caught the eye of PickupTrucks.com, which tapped one of its sources within GM to ask how manufacturing and dealer jobs have escaped the axe. On the manufacturing front, the H3 production facility in South Africa (which makes right-hand drive models for markets outside the States) will be shuttered and assembly will move back to the U.S. Additionally, the memorandum of understanding states that no Hummer dealers in the U.S. will closed.

PRESS RELEASE

GENERAL MOTORS ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY AGREEMENT TO SELL HUMMER

Deal could secure more than 3,000 jobs in the United States; preserves HUMMER as global off-road brand

DETROIT, June 2, 2009 – General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), announced it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a buyer for HUMMER, its premium off-road brand. This transaction is the result of GM’s strategic review of the HUMMER brand and the company’s ongoing restructuring efforts.

The sale is expected to close by the end of third quarter of this year and is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals.

The deal is expected to secure more than 3,000 U.S. jobs in manufacturing, engineering and at HUMMER dealerships around the country. The transaction also includes plans by the investor to aggressively fund future HUMMER product programs. Under terms of the MoU, the identity of the purchaser and proposed financial terms of the agreement are not being released at this time.

“HUMMER is a strong brand,” said Troy Clarke, President of GM North America. “I’m confident that HUMMER will thrive globally under its new ownership. And for GM, this sale continues to accelerate the reinvention of GM into a leaner, more focused, and more cost-competitive automaker.”

As part of the proposed transaction, HUMMER will continue to contract vehicle manufacturing and business services from GM during a defined transitional time period. For example, under the proposed agreement, GM’s Shreveport Assembly plant would continue to contract assemble the H3 and H3T through at least 2010.

“GM has developed HUMMER into a globally recognized off-road brand,” said James Taylor, HUMMER chief executive officer. “The proposed agreement will enable us to continue that growth and maximize the brand’s potential through new, innovative off-road vehicles with improved efficiency and alternative fuel powertrains. Today’s announcement is great news for HUMMER’s current and future customers, dealers, suppliers and employees around the globe.”

Other terms and conditions specific to the sale are not being disclosed at this time. Citi acted as financial advisor to General Motors Corporation.

[Source:Autoblog]

It’s going to be hard for Cadillac to live up to its longtime billing as “The Standard of the World” if the brand isn’t available in much of it. Despite this, General Motors has decided to pull Cadillac from nearly half of the 25 European markets (not including the U.K. or Russia) in which it currently sells. Along with Cadillac, the HUMMER and Corvette brands will also be affected.

The problem isn’t directly GM’s fault, as the automaker relies on a Dutch-based third-party company called Kroymans Import Europe to distribute these brands across the Atlantic. Due to slow sales caused by the global economic downturn, Kroymans has found itself with an “acute liquidity shortage.” In other words, it’s out of money.

GM and Kroymans are currently working on a new distribution deal, but in the meantime, a court has appointed an independent administrator to take possession of the 3,500 unsold vehicles currently sitting on Kroyman’s 165 European dealerships.

[Source:Autoblog]

General Motors seems pretty anxious to see its HUMMER division go away. In fact, it’s called the sale “urgent,” and recent actions appear to bolster that claim.

James E. Taylor, the man who had formerly been helping lead Cadillac back to its “standard of the world” past-glory, has just been appointed the new CEO of the HUMMER brand. GM says that this upper-management move “marks a progression in the ongoing strategic review process.” We read that to mean Taylor will help ready the brand for a quick sale. It also sounds like HUMMER’s general manager, Martin Walsh, will attempt to smooth over any issues that the brand’s sale will have with its current dealerships. Mark McNabb will oversee Taylor on his new assignment and will also shoulder the burden that’s left at Caddy now that the brand has lost the man who had been at the helm. We’ve pasted the press release after the break if you’d like to try and decipher it for yourself.

[Source General Motors]

PRESS RELEASE:

Taylor Named New Chief Executive Officer of HUMMER

DETROIT – As part of the ongoing business and strategic review of the HUMMER brand, General Motors is revising its HUMMER leadership structure. Effective immediately, James E. Taylor is appointed to the new position of chief executive officer, HUMMER.

Taylor, 52, formerly Cadillac general manager, is responsible for the future strategy and current business of HUMMER worldwide. This move marks a progression in the ongoing strategic review process and establishes the lead management structure for HUMMER going forward. Martin Walsh, currently general manager of HUMMER, will team with Taylor on the transition and ongoing dealer relations, and then will move to another assignment that will be announced soon.

Taylor has been Cadillac general manager since 2004, and even prior to that he was a key architect in Cadillac’s design and technology resurgence. As the global Vehicle Line Executive for Cadillac, Taylor led the development of a series of new models – beginning with the Cadillac CTS — that ushered in a new and distinctive generation of dramatically designed, high performing vehicles. Taylor joined GM in 1980 and since has held a number of business and marketing leadership roles, including those at Saturn, Adam Opel, Worldwide Purchasing and GM Truck.

Taylor reports to Mark C. McNabb, North America vice president, Cadillac/Premium Channel. McNabb, 46, joined GM in 2008 to assume leadership of GM’s premium brands, Cadillac, HUMMER and Saab USA.

“By creating a new and more comprehensive leadership position for HUMMER with Jim Taylor as the top executive, we are bolstering the strategic review process and the brand,” said Mark LaNeve, GMNA vice president of Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. “At the same time, we’re sharpening our focus on Cadillac as GM’s flagship brand in the global luxury marketplace under Mark McNabb’s leadership.”

[Source:Autoblog]