GM's Deal To Sell Hummer To Chinese Company Falls Through

WSJ ^ | 2/24/10

[Kartographer]

No more Humming!

[SJSAMPLE]

Just to make it clear:

This is the civilian “HUMMER” brand and not the HMMWV production by AM General.

[driftdiver]

The chinese worried about the environment? yeah right

[Cheetahcat]

Well when the Rats create $5.00 gasoline everything crumbles again RATS!!!

[Yossarian]

Those authorities were reluctant to let a Chinese company acquire a brand they see as unfriendly to the environment.

Which is more friendly to the environment...

A) A Hummer?

B) A Prius?

...once you ALSO consider the environmental impact of the manufacturing the vehicle, and then recycling / disposing of it when its components have worn out?

[rdl6989]

Thanks for that clarification.

[bajabaja]

This is really a signal that China is trying to address its over-capacity problem, not care for the environment.

Nothing is as it seems on its face when dealing with Communists.

[almost done by half]

Those authorities were reluctant to let a Chinese company acquire a brand they see as unfriendly to the environment.

Just throwing our own global warming B.S. back in our faces. Pretty smart of them.

[hondact200]

Government Motors kills the civilian hummer, Saturn,Pontiac and Saab being owned by a small Belgium manufacturer. such a great government owned, sell it off piece by piece. Cadillac,Chevrolet,Buick and GM trucks that is all that is left. chrysler/Fiat how long will it last? Ford?, Honda?, Mazda? Nissan? Hyundai? and Kia? are they on the chopping block too. What about Tesla? Tata Motors (India) is buying up property in Michigan. China to import cars that kill its car test dummies.

[B Knotts]

This brand ceased to have a reason to exist when they killed the H1.

[SJSAMPLE]

The Hummer brand was going down long before the government takeover. It’s really use a re-branded, plasticized pickup from GM’s standard platforms. But with extra markup.

[PDMiller]

Pretty strong rumor in Southwest Michigan that Buick and GMC are on life support. If killed off, this would leave GM with just Chevy and Cadillac brands.

[Mr. Lucky]

Facts. What are facts in the face of unrestrained hysteria?

[RetSignman]

Why should Japan acquire the Hummer, they probably think they would be dragged before congress to apologize for polluting the atmosphere.

There is going to be a very big payback for that hearing on Toyota, the Japanese do not like to be humiliated. Just remember they are now our biggest debt holder.

Watch for a change in the interest rate we are charged for our debt.

[HamiltonJay]

Don’t buy it on Buick, its actually a big seller oversees. Its old foagie brand in US for folks who can’t afford Cadi’s, but oversees apparently it sells big, and since asia is a huge emerging market, I can’t see them killing Buick.

GMC is a pointless brand, there is no difference between a Chevy Pickup and a GMC pickup other than badges and marketing branding at any practicle level.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

The chinese worried about the environment? yeah right

The Chinese don't care about the environment. They're betting that the Hummer brand is a dinosaur that they're better off without for reasons of marketing, PR, and future prospects.

[HamiltonJay]

As a retail brand even the H1 was a dud, it was a great machine for the military purpose it was built for decades ago, but that’s long past. Trying to turn it into a retail brand was silly as far as I’m concerned.

[bonnieblue4me]

So, how do I put in my bid for Hummer & Pontiac?

[SJSAMPLE]

GM saw the civilian H1 as a launching point for a brand that would compete against Jeep and Land Rover for the faux “adventure” set.

Unfortunately, the H1 and H2 hit the market just as oil prices shot through the roof. The ineptness of these follow-on vehicles didn’t help either.

And when the unsophisticated consumers FINALLY caught on that they were just re-branded Chevys, GAME OVER.

[HamiltonJay]

The H1 & H2’s never fit that bill, all they would ever be would be “status” symbols for some, and the H3 was just a pitiable and laughable thing.

The H1 was a great machine for what it was designed to be, but to take that and try to spin it into a retail brand, frankly was silly, cheap or expensive gas would not have changed this brands fate.

There are only so many tiny women with penis envy who are going to buy an overpriced and oversized machine, and only so many hard core offroaders, the status symbol set would never be happy with an H1, no matter how much they tried to refine it. Its a beast, built to do some serious things, but a beast none the less, and its never going to be a Land Rover.