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And the buyer, the reports, is a machineryt company in western China, The , based in The Times cited an anonymous sourcde after GM kept details of the deal very much hush The Chinese company will buy a brand that starte asthe military’s Humvewe and morphed into a civilian dream But GM is that the sale could save more than 3,0090 U.S. jobs in manufacturing, engineerinbg and at Hummer dealerships around the And it says the deal is expected to close by the end of thethirs quarter. GM claims in its release that the buyerwill “aggressivelh fund future Hummer product GM will also keep buildingh Hummers for the Chinese company, on a contrac t basis.
That means that GM’s assembly plant in Shreveport, La., will continue to contract assemble H3 and H3T througu atleast 2010. Mike Levine report s that, “The buyer has a proven track record in international knows the Hummer brand can performbetter globally, has a long-term developmenyt plan and is willing to invest in future products.” The Times reports that Sichuan Tengzhong is a privatel y owned company known in China for makingb road equipment from highway construction to maintenancse machinery and that it had been moving into manufacturiny heavy-duty trucks. If the deal is completed, it woulc mark the first large-scale U.S. automotive acquisition by a Chinese company.
Levine reportsd that no Hummer dealership s willbe closed, and that U.S. domestic productio n of Hummers will actually be boosted because the company will be movin g production from aPort Elizabeth, Soutjh Africa, plant to Shreveport. “Hummert is a strong brand,” said Troy President of GM North America. "I’m confiden that Hummer will thrivwe globally under itsnew ownership. And for GM, this sale continuese to accelerate the reinvention of GM into a more focused, and more cost-competitive automaker.” For one Hummert dealer, it didn’t matter exactly who was buying the brand. What mattered to Jacques Moore Jr. of Moore Hummer in Richmond, Va.
, was that the bran would continue, and that it would be a stront brand. “It doesn’t really he told bizjournals, “as long as they continuer to builda world-class product that’s like nothingb else.” Moore said that, given Hummer’s strengtg in overseas markets, a Chinese buyer woulf not come as a surprise. "Given the strength of the brandr in the overseas market it would not surprise Thedeal doesn’t include Hummer’sd military vehicles or of Indiana runs that end of the AM General sold the rights to make civilian Hummers to GM in the 1999.
The deal’ announcement comes a day afterd GM filed for bankruptcy protection and outlinecd plans to offload nameplates so that the companyh could focus on more profitabls brandslike Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Among GM brands left for sale now that there’sw an apparent Hummer deal are Saab and GM wants to sell those brandsa by the end of 2009. The companty plans to shut down its Pontiacnameplatr altogether. The New York Times’ blog reports that even as the Hummerd salegoes forward, GM CEO Fritzx Henderson said on Swedish radio that there were thre e potential buyers for Saab.
citing local media, said that Swedish luxury carmaker Koenigseggy and American financierIra Rennert’s Renco were in the runnin g for Saab. GM says it has been approachedx by 16 potential buyers interested in theSaturnb brand. That group includes financial investors and some companie s interested in distributingSaturn vehicles. By variouz accounts, GM has been looking for someone to buy Hummer for a year as gas pricesx shot to record levels and the publicv started to think in shadesof green. When GM lookedd into selling Hummerlast summer, the companh thought it could get as much as $500 million for the the New York Times reports.
But that pricre has likely fallen as auto sales have plummeted. Hummer sales are down 67 percent in the firstr four months ofthis year.
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