Re: New bidders for Hummer reported
From the Mansfield News Journal 2/28/2010
Note: We had a stamping plant closed after fifty years of production, the rumors have been ?flying? since but when I read the paper this morning I found this???..I know it is just a rumor and not going to happen but thought I would "share"
Ed
ONTARIO ? ?Psst! Guess who?s looking at the GM plant??
?Y?know, I heard a bigwig from so-and-so walked through the place last week.?
For every whisper that makes its way into the News Journal newsroom (remember Roger Penske), there are likely two or three others floating around town about this or that corporate interest maybe snapping up the 280,000 square feet of hollowed out potential in Ontario.
Reporters dutifully make calls, but the inevitable response is: ?It?s just a rumor.?
Well, we?d like to indulge in some rumors for a change.
Here?s a short list of companies that over the last year or so were maybe (we heard ? completely off the record, of course) interested in setting up shop in the former General Motors Corp. Mansfield/Ontario Metal Center.
Hummer
GM?s plan to sell the hulking, once-hot Hummer line to a Chinese heavy equipment maker has been delayed by a month ? to Feb. 28, pending approval by the Chinese government.
Is the Goliath of American roads of recent past making a comeback? Sales of Hummer H3 jumped 7.7 percent among Japanese buyers last year, as the latest model ? with its 5.3-liter, 300-horsepower engine ? made it a popular choice for loyal customers in Japan?s version of the ?Cash for Clunkers? program. The new H3 gets 16 mpg in the city.
But things aren?t looking good for the line once synonymous with America?s love for big off-road vehicles. A number of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, are reporting the deal likely won?t pass muster with Chinese regulators.
Also, if existing Hummer plants are any indication, this might not be the company of Mansfield?s future. GM recently halted Hummer production in Shreveport, La.
Hummer?s total sales peaked at 71,524 in 2006. In December 2009, only 325 Hummers were sold, down 85 percent from the previous year, according to Autodata Corp.
Hummer?s estimated worth is about $150 million.
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