Manufacturers HUMMER

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:

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

Toyota was all ready to create a little positive marketing for itself by entering its new 2010 4Runner in the grueling Baja 1000 race. The only problem is, Hummer also signed up and decided to spoil all the fun.

Under new ownership by Chinese heavy machinery maker Sichuan Tengzhong, Hummer will move forward with plans to introduce a smaller and more efficient H4 model. Previewed in concept form as the HX (above), the H4 would be lighter and more fuel-conscious, but wouldn’t give up on the brand’s hard-core attitude. It would be designed as a rival to the Jeep Wrangler in rugged off-road performance.

As a brand, Hummer’s time in the spotlight is pretty much over, although if there is something that can save the brand it might be a core group of enthusiasts and a strong motorsports background. While Hummers are best known for being excessive street machines, unlike a lot of SUVs, they are actually incredibly capable off-roaders.

General Motors has sold its Hummer brand of SUVs to Chinese heavy industrial machinery builder Sichuan Tengzhon. No details have been released but the sale was reportedly made for a sum of just $150 million.

General Motors’ sale of its Hummer brand to China’s Tengzhong may be completed within a week.

Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) new Indian owner Tata Motors continues to invest in and makes plans for its newly acquired luxury division despite what has so far been a very poor return on investment.

Today the sun rose on a New General Motors, a move which will also see the sun set on a lot of people’s careers. GM emerged from bankruptcy protection at 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time with news of a serious corporate restructuring plan that will take effect over the next few months.

Late Sunday a judge approved the sale of GM’s assets to a group comprised of the U.S. government, the UAW and the Canadian and Ontario governments under the name NGMCO, Inc. The decision will see GM exit bankruptcy court quickly with the ‘New GM’ assets going to NGMCO, while the ‘Old GM’ assets will be sold off to the highest bidder.

According to a report on Chinese state radio, the sale of Hummer by General Motors to heavy-equipment manufacturer Tengzhong will not go ahead. The report on China National Radio states that Tengzhong’s acquisition of Hummer goes against the government’s efforts to reduce pollution by manufacturing companies in China.

In an interview with Hummer CEO Jim Taylor, The Detroit Bureau found out plenty about the company’s future plans under it’s new owner, Chinese heavy machinery maker Tengzhong.

Earlier today we reported that GM had reached a tentative deal to sell off the Hummer brand to an unnamed party. That company has now been identified as Chinese heavy machinery maker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd. – or just Tengzhong for short.

Tengzhong will take control of the Hummer brand including the senior operational team and the company’s dealership network. It also plans to continue a relationship with General Motors in the immediate future while it looks to expand Hummer with new products.

“The Hummer brand is synonymous with adventure, freedom and exhilaration, and we plan to continue that heritage by investing in the business, allowing Hummer to innovate and grow in exciting new ways under the leadership and continuity of its current management team,” said Yang Yi, CEO of Tengzhong. “We will be investing in the Hummer brand and its research and development capabilities, which will allow Hummer to better meet demand for new products such as more fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S.”

In an interview with Automotive News, Hummer CEO James Taylor said that long term the company will look to set up its own engineering and marketing offices in the United States.

Taylor also said that Tengzhong’s plans include expanding the Hummer product lineup and using alternative powertrains to help it meet with increasingly stringent environmental standards.

The Tengzhong company is the largest privately owned engineering company in China, specializing in heavy machinery for large scale construction projects, such as roads and bridges. It does not, however, have any experience in building passenger vehicles.

[Source: Automotive News]

Official release after the jump:

A day after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, General Motors has announced it has found a buyer for its Hummer brand of SUVs. GM has not, however, named the party.

While President Obama and General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson are both expected to hold press conferences today, officially GM has already filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection.

General Motors will cut 1,124 dealerships loose by October of 2010. The struggling automaker on the verge of bankruptcy sent letters out to the dealerships last week as it searches for ways to reduce it’s current dealer network of 5,969 to just 3,600.

In a move that should probably be illegal (but isn’t) six General Motors executives recently sold off all their shares in the company. That’s right, those same guys who helped drive GM into bankruptcy traded in all their stocks when a trading window opened.

General Motors has once again posted a massive quarterly loss, coming up short to the tune of $6 billion for Q1 of ’09. That is roughly the equivalent of the value of 473,000 Chevy Aveos.

Each year Hagerty, a major insurer of classic cars, releases its “Top 10 Cars We Can’t Live Without,” aiming to point out which current vehicles will become the classics of the future. This year’s list has some big surprises.

Several major news outlets are reporting that General Motors is planning extended shutdowns of its U.S. plants this summer. The plants would be idled for as much as nine weeks from mid-May through July.

Just ahead of the Obama Administration’s press conference today, some of the most important details are already out.

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner will be stepping down as the head of the deeply troubled American auto giant by the end of the month – this according to several reports including CNBC and GMInsideNews.

Along with asking for $16.6 billion more in loans from the Federal Treasury, General Motors has made it clear that Saturn, Saab and Hummer will be sold off or eliminated.

For everything that is wrong with Hummers, they are, apparently, good at off-roading. Proof of that lies in the success of Rod Hall Racing’s Team Hummer effort, which just swept the stock classes at the Best In the Desert (BITD) Racing Association’s FabTech Desert Classic 2008 season finale.

Chad Hall crossed the finish line first (earning him not only the race victory but the stock full SUV class victory) in his Hummer H3. Moments later his brother Josh crossed the line in an H2 SUT, earning the stock full truck class championship.

Then team owner Rod Hall crossed the line in his H3 to secure the stock mini class championship.

The hat-trick not only secured individual and class victories but it also capped-off the 2008 season – the most successful season for Hummer Racing since the team was founded in 1993.

Official release after the jump:

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