Iconic Hummer brand sold to Chinese manufacturer

[Klaus]

Iconic Hummer brand sold to Chinese manufacturer

By TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher, Ap Auto Writer 16 mins ago

DETROIT ? Hummer, the off-road vehicle that once epitomized America's love for hulking trucks, is now in the hands of a Chinese heavy equipment maker.

General Motors Co. and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp. finally signed the much-anticipated deal to sell the brand on Friday.

Tengzhong will get an 80 percent stake in the company, while Hong Kong investor Suolang Duoji, who indirectly owns a big stake in Tengzhong through an investment company called Sichuan Huatong Investment Holding Co., will get 20 percent. The investors will also get Hummer's nationwide dealer network.

Financial terms were not disclosed, although a person briefed on the deal said the sale price was around $150 million. The person did not want to be identified because the terms were being kept private. GM's bankruptcy filing last summer said that the iconic brand with military roots could bring in $500 million or more.

Suolang Duoji also is the controlling shareholder and chairman of Lumena Resources Corp., a Hong Kong listed mining company.

GM and Tengzhong said in a statement that the transaction still must be approved by the U.S. and Chinese governments, although and Chinese regulators initially expressed reservations about Tengzhong's ability to run such an enterprise.

Hummer's current management team will stay with the new company, which will be headquartered either in Detroit or suburban Auburn Hills, Mich.

James Taylor, the GM executive who has run Hummer recently, will remain as its chief executive officer.

"We are fortunate to have a partner who understands and recognizes the importance of continuing investment in Hummer's heritage as a U.S.-based and branded company with a view toward capitalizing on global opportunities," Taylor said in a statement.

Hummer, whose smallest model gets 16 miles per gallon (14.7 liters per 100 kilometers) in combined city and highway driving, sold well until the middle part of this decade when fuel prices began to rise. Sales peaked at 71,524 in 2006.

But only 8,193 Hummers have been sold in the U.S. through the first nine months of the year. That's down 64 percent from a year earlier. And only 426 Hummers were sold nationwide last month, according to Autodata Corp.

GM, which spent 40 days in bankruptcy protection during the summer and has received about $50 billion in U.S. government aid, also plans to sell its Saab brand and scrap Pontiac and Saturn as it tries to streamline its operations.

The company wants to focus on four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.

With backing from a well-capitalized company, Hummer will now focus on
improved efficiency and performance and include alternative fuels, more efficient gas engines, six-speed transmissions and diesel engines.

GM said its assembly plant at Shreveport, La. would continue to assemble the commercial Hummer H3 and H3T pickup trucks on a contract basis until June 2011, with a one-year option until June 2012. The military H2 version will continue to be assembled by AM General in Mishawaka, Ind. under the same terms.

South Bend, Ind.-based AM General retains ownership of the military versions of the vehicles, which have been used frequently in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Shreveport GM plant is currently slated to close by June 2012. For the time being, the plant also is assembling the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks.


The plant once employed about 3,000 workers, but layoff and buyouts have reduced that number to just over 700.
___ AP Business Writer Alan Sayre in New Orleans contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091009/...mer_sale/print

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If the Parent company is anywhere and the jobs are here its a win for workers.
Its sad that GM could not manage the brand successfully.