GM To Score $150m For Hummer

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

GM and Sichuan Tzenzhong hope to close the Hummer deal within the next few days, reports Automotive News [sub]. GM expects to receive $150m for the brand, or about $1m per dealer (pre-cull). Incidentally, GM made each of those dealers pay up to $15m for the “brand faithful” (read: garish) dealership upgrades pictured above. Not to get all Lou Dobbs about it, but GM already turned down $100m from an American bidder too. But hey, $50m is $50m. Just ask the Hummer dealers. Meanwhile, who else is ready for Hummer to become a symbol of China?

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Verbal Verbal on Oct 09, 2009

    So when the Chinese take it over, does that mean Hummer's crash test scores will plummet?

  • Stevelovescars Stevelovescars on Oct 09, 2009

    How many Hummer dealers are still open in the U.S.? Some started shutting down when gas prices rose a couple of years ago and before GM's bankruptcy was a sure thing. Inventory was piling up like crazy before the economy totally nosedived. Anyway, the way I look at is that nobody needs a Huumer, or for that matter any luxury car like a BMW, Mercedes, or Cadillac. Rather, people who pay more than $35k for a car do it because they want others to see them driving the brand. Ok, a small number drive an BMW or Corvette because they take them to the track on club days or really use them as they are capable of being used, but this is a very small minority... just like the minority of Hummer H2 and H3 drivers who ever came close to using the off-road potential of these trucks. The Hummer brand doesn't need to be legislated out of existence... high gas prices and, more importantly, a negative public image will do the job more effectively. If they plan to sell Hummers in the U.S., they have a very difficult job in front of them. I've actually started to wonder where all of the Hummers went. A few years ago it seemed I saw them all the time... and often with 22" spinners. Now I see them on the road so rarely that I'm surprised when I do. Did a huge percentage of customers lease them and just give them back? Were people so embarassed to be seen in them that they had them crushed and made into recycled dashboards for their new Priuses?

  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Oct 09, 2009

    @djoelt1: I agree with your 2nd post about the choices we draw as consumers, which is one reason I have a small car. But the 1st post gave me the impression that you'd prefer those circles to be drawn by others, i.e. the government. If I mistook your meaning, I apologize. On the other hand, if you were referring to the market being the driving force, I'm with you. The point may also be moot since the market seems to have turned its back on Hummer long ago. I would personally never own a Hummer, because I couldn't afford to, because it's made by GM, and because I don't fit into one as well as my xB. Although I'm not a tree-hugger, I buy cars mostly based upon utility. But I like the idea of a car company offering a unique brand to the consumer, even if that choice offends the senses of others with different values. To me, Hummer, Escalade, Navigator, and Land Cruiser are all in the same genre, but somehow Hummer has become the poster child of class warfare in the US, perhaps due to its military roots.

  • Trkrhelp Trkrhelp on Nov 03, 2009

    I'd be willing to bet that all you Hummer knockers have never been 4 wheeling in one. It gets better or the same MPG as a Jeep Wrangler 4 door, is a lot more comfortable in town and is just as capable off road.

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