Marketing stunts can be wild and crazy at times, but they rarely involve, well, actual stunts. Despite that, Infiniti will be streaming a live Cirque Du Soleil performance that features the 2012 Infiniti JX. 

Infiniti says the JX will “challenge gravity” in the performance, so we hope to see it flying through the air supported by trapeze artists. The event will be called Le Voyage Inspire, and will be approximately 11 minutes long. Nine Cirque Du Soleil performers will use JX as the focus of their act.

Infiniti is getting the JX name out in as many venues possible lately, sponsoring NCAA Basketball and now getting into acrobatic acts. Surely the company is trying to guarantee its expectation that the JX will be it’s second best seller.

The Cirque Du Soleil performance will stream live Thursday, March 29, at 12 p.mm Eastern Daylight Time.

Click here to be directed to where you can watch the event, and watch the video below explaining how the event came to be.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

The architectural team of Craig Hodges and HsinMing Fung (the two founding architects of HPlusF) have taken on unique projects in the past, adding their style to the Hollywood Bowl and Egyptian Theater. For HPlusF’s latest architectural undertaking, they put a cool new spin on the Hummer brand by turning it into a home.

Dubbed the HummerHaus, this design is just a concept. The modular capsule-style dwelling features eight identical Hummer body shells that are wrapped around a steel skeleton. The duo was inspired by their love of innovative technology, and they used their background in industrial, theatrical and residential design to create this cool concept.

The HummerHaus comes equipped with a host of features, including 12 volt electrical systems, OEM refrigeration, heating, and media components. It also infuses eco-friendly components into the design, such as geothermal storage tanks, photo-voltaic cells, and soy insulation.

This concept is an innovative idea of how old vehicles could be repurposed once they are no longer fit for the roads. Would you live in a house made from recycled Hummers? Leave us your thoughts in the comments section below.

[Source: Autoblog]

You don’t mess with GM, as a car salesman and a trucking company owner found out recently. They’ve been charged by the FBI for allegedly selling more than 200 Hummers overseas with phony titles and collecting more than $500,000 in unearned incentives from General Motors.

Steve Romshek, a former salesman at the Huber dealership in Omaha (that’s the one that sold the Hummers), has been arrested, while Marilyn Maskill, owner of an Overland Park, Kan., trucking company, hasn’t been arrested yet. According to an Associated Press report, the crafty pair sold the Hummers in 2005 and 2006 to a small broker in Chillicothe, Mo. The Hummers were then resold overseas and exported to Nigeria, Germany, Canada, Japan, just to name a few countries. With the fraudulent titles, they were able to pocket more than $500,000 in unearned incentives from General Motors – and that’s money they shouldn’t have been eligible to collect. In total, the pair is facing 11 counts of wire fraud and one charge of conspiracy.

As for the Huber dealership, they cooperated with FBI investigators and settled things General Motors and regulators a few years back. They also had to pay a $100,000 fine to a state licensing board, but admitted no wrongdoing. It’s interesting to note that this fine was the largest ever handed down by the Nebraska Vehicle Industry Licensing Board.

It’s still unknown whether or not the couple who owned the Missouri car brokerage will be charged.  They could be on the hook, as they bought more than 200 Hummers from Huber in 2005 and 2006.

We’ll keep you posted when we hear of any further developments. Until then, don’t try to mess with GM – they mean business and apparently have the FBI’s number on speed dial!

[Source: USA Today]

General Motors Co. may reduce production of pickup trucks after inventories rose last month. GM’s truck inventory rose to more than 275,000 at the end of April working out to about 111 days of supply, according to Don Johnson, GM’s vice president of U.S sales. GM dealers had about 264,000 trucks on their lots last month.

GM’s U.S sales climbed 26 percent to 232, 538 vehicles in April compared to 183,997 a year earlier. Large pickup trucks have been a key driver of the auto industry’s sales recovery as small business owners begin to replace aging vehicles.

Mark Reuss, GM president for North America, said today, ”We’re going to do something about it, but we haven’t made those calls yet,” Reuss said in a telephone interview. Buyers shifted away from trucks last month, “but no one month makes a trend, so we’ve got to see where this one holds,” Reuss said.

[Source: Automotive News]

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2011 Dakar Rally is almost upon us, though like the last two events, it will be run exclusively in South America (in Argentina and Chile). So in truth it should probably be called the Patagonia Rally, since Dakar is in Senegal, Africa and the event hasn’t been run there since 2007 because of security issues.

Nevertheless, name issues or not, as in past years, the 2011 Dakar, which begins on January 1st,  promises to be an exciting and grueling event. And if you can’t get in the action physically, then you can ride along with the Toyo Tires/Speed Energy team which is campaigning two Hummer H3s, one of which (shown above) is to be driven by legendary NASCAR hotshoe Robby Gordon and co-driver Kellon Walsh, who will attempt to win the 5,903  mile event.

In order to monitor their progress, Toyo Tires has put up a Dakar blog which which chronicles the adventures of the team leading up to and during the event. It features written posts, videos and photos, allowing fans up to the minute information relating to the progress of the two Hummers as they traverse the unforgiving terrain on each stage. For more information and to get the latest updates, click on the link below.

[Source: Toyo Tires]

General Motors has announced a massive recall of 1.5 million vehicles over concern that their heated windshield washer fluid system could catch fire. No solution for the problem is available and so GM will give owners a $100 rebate (yup, $150 million in total) for the loss of the feature on their vehicle.

GM had previously recalled vehicles with this system back in August of 2008 for the same issue, and even refused to pay the supplier (Micro-Heat) for the new HotShot system to cover the costs. Micro-Heat was then forced to file for bankruptcy.

Affected vehicles include: the 2006-2009 Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS, Hummer H2; the 2008-2009 Buick Enclave and Cadillac CTS; the 2007-2009 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon, Yukon XL, Saturn Outlook and the 2009 model year Chevrolet Traverse.

Of the total 1.5 million vehicles recalled 1,365,070 are in the U.S., 98,794 in Canada, 26,228 and in Mexico.

[Source: FreePress]

The last Hummer H3 is destined for an Avis rental car fleet, after it left the factory on Monday, May 24th 2010. GM actually shut down production of the H3 in July, 2009, but kept the plant going to fill a special order of H3s made by the rental firm.

GM is shuttering the Hummer brand after an attempt to sell it to Chinese automaker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd fell apart. An effort to clear out remaining Hummer models has seen GM offer zero percent financing and generous cash incentives to clear out leftover inventory. An estimated 200 workers will lose their jobs in July as a result of the end of Hummer production.

[Source: Autoguide]

Zero Hedge, a blog more concerned with the imminent destruction of our economy than the demise of the internal combustion engine, recently obtained word that the U.S. Tresury is going to be auctioning off some serious machinery made in the U.S., Italy, France and England.

Thanks to the Treasury’s asset seizure program, the property of fraudsters like Scott Rothstein is sold off to anyone with enough cash. Rothstein himself had a large collection of exotic cars and it looks like some of them might have ended up in the government auction, including his prized Bugatti Veyrons. Unlike most supercar brokers, the Treasury is quite reasonable about their sales tactics; the minimum bid on the Veyron is only $100,00 – the price of a new Mercedes S-Class. Why even bother with something so pedestrian when you can own the most powerful car in the world. It’s a no brainer, really. As long as you can afford the costs of maintaining it…

[Source: Zero Hedge]

GM is recalling 2006 through 2010 Hummer H3s are being recalled because the faux-hood louvers can detatch and hit another vehicle.

The retaining clips on the hood louvers can malfunction, and according to a severe warning issued by NHTSA “… could strike a following vehicle and cause injury and/or property damage.” GM says that no deaths or injuries have resulted from this issue, aside from motorists having to suffer the ignominy of driving a Hummer H3.

The Hummer brand is slated to die at the end of the year, after an unsuccessful attempt at selling Hummer to a Chinese automaker.

[Source: NHTSA]

Scott Rothstein was once a prominent South Florida lawyer, famous for his humble roots, flashy lifestyle and philanthropy. But after a suicide attempt and a failed escape to Morocco, Rothsetin turned himself in after federal agents exposed his 1.2 billion dollar Ponzi scheme.

Now, the United States government has seized his assets and is auctioning off an assortment of exotic cars owned by Rothstein and a number of shell companies. The list ranges from the very mild (two Pontiac G6s, a Ford Expedition) to the highest echelons of supercar-dom (two Bugatti Veryons, a Ferrari F40).

If you have the funds, and are looking to score a deal on some serious machinery with, shall we say, interesting provenance, take a peek at the list below and get in touch with the appropriate arm of the federal government.

[Source: Dupont Registry]

Full List After The Jump:

$1,600,000.00 – 2008 Bugatti Veyron

$1,600,000.00 – 2004 Bugatti Veyron

$495,000.00 – 2008 Mercedes SLR

$483,833.00 – 2008 Rolls-Royce Phantom

$483,833.00 – 2007 Rolls-Royce Phantom

$443,713.00 – 1990 Ferrari F40

$354,000.00 – 2010 Lamborghini Murcielago

$354,000.00 – 2010 Lamborghini Murcielago

$335,000.00 – 2008 Lamborghini Murcielago

$326,981.00 – 2007 Ferrari 599

$279,000.00 – 2008 Ferrari F430

$249,000.00 – 2006 Ferrari F430

$189,000.00 – 2007 Spyker

$179,950.00 – 1974 Ferrari GTS coupe

$174,100.00 – 2009 Bentley Continental

$106,485.00 – 2006 Hummer H1

$58,950.00 – 2005 Porsche 911

$54,900.00 – 2008 Cadillac Escalade

$54,900.00 – 2008 Cadillac Escalade

$47,000.00 – 2007 Cadillac Escalade

$40,525.00 – 2008 Chevrolet Corvette

$28,000.00 – 2007 Ford Expedition

$21,500.00 – 2008 Chevrolet Express

$13,825.00 – 2008 Pontiac G6

$11,650.00 – 2007 Pontiac G6

Just a day after announcing the successful sale of Saab, General Motors today announced that a deal to sell its Hummer unit of SUVs has fallen through. GM has been negotiating with Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd., but today announced in a statement that the Chinese heavy machinery maker was, “unable to complete the acquisition of Hummer.”

GM agreed to try and find a buyer for its Hummer brand upon exiting bankruptcy last year. GM decided to refocus on just four brands (Chevy, Buick, GMC and Cadillac). Since then it announced the shut-down of the historic Pontiac brand and also the wind-down of Saturn after a deal to sell it to Penske fell through. Just yesterday GM completed the sale of Saab to Dutch automaker Spyker.

GM has said it will honor Hummer warranties and provide service support and parts to owners worldwide.

Official release after the jump:

DETROIT – General Motors today announced that Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd. (Tengzhong) was unable to complete the acquisition of HUMMER. As a result, GM will begin the orderly wind-down of the HUMMER operations.

“One year ago, General Motors announced that we were going to divest HUMMER, as part of focusing our efforts on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac going forward.  We have since considered a number of possibilities for HUMMER along the way, and 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.”

GM will continue to honor HUMMER warranties, while providing service support and spare parts to current HUMMER owners around the world.

Frederick “Fritz” Henderson has resigned as General Motors chief executive officer.

Henderson (left, in the photo above) was appointed CEO on March 29, replacing Rick Waggoner who shown the door by the Obama administration. Over the last eight months, Henderson worked at reorganizing the company. GM announced that Chairman Ed Whitacre Jr. (right, in the photo) will take over as interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found.

“Fritz has done a remarkable job in leading the company through an unprecedented period of challenge and change,” said Whitacre. “While momentum has been building over the past several months, all involved agree that changes needed to be made. To this end, I have taken over the role of Chairman and CEO while an international search for a new president and CEO begins immediately. With these new duties, I will begin working in the Renaissance Center headquarters on a daily basis. The leadership team – many who are with me today – are united and committed to the task at hand.”

During Henderson’s tenure, GM filed for Chapter 11 protection and, 40 days later, emerged from protection with help from the government. On Nov. 16, Henderson announced GM would begin paying back the government’s $6.7 billion loan.

As part of the company’s recovery efforts, GM scaled back to four key brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. Pontiac is shutting down and GM found a Chinese buyer for Hummer. GM also came close to finding new owners for Saturn and Saab. A deal with Roger Penske for Saturn fell apart, while a deal for Saab with Koenigsegg also fell through. GM also announced today it has “has received expressions of interest in Saab” and will evaluate potential bids before the end of December.

[Source: MSNBC and Associated Press]