Filed under: SUVs, China, GM, HUMMER, Rumormill
AM General says it's not interested in HUMMER
Any rejoicing over General Motors finding a possible buyer for the HUMMER brand may have been a bit premature. A spokesperson for AM General (the South Bend, Indiana, HMMWV manufacturer) has told a local TV station that rumors of its interest in Hummer are simply not true.
NBC affiliate WNDU was also told that there have been no talks between AM General and China's Hunan Changfeng Motor Co. about a joint deal to acquire GM's HUMMER brand, a statement that stands in contrast to earlier reports attributed to Changfeng.
Looks like if GM intends to keep their goal of selling HUMMER by 2009, they'll need to quickly renew that Craigslist ad, offer a big rebate to the buyer, or throw in cheap gas for a year. Or all three.
[Source: WNDU]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Sea Urchin 10:08AM (12/17/2008)
The Government will soon replace Humvees, once they are gone Hummer will lose its appeal.
Reply
Sea Urchin 10:10AM (12/17/2008)
Here's the possible replacement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ultra_ap.jpg
HotRodzNKustoms 10:17AM (12/17/2008)
I beg to differ because Jeep has not lost it's appeal.
Mobius_1 10:19AM (12/17/2008)
According to this report,
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/army_electric_cars_112408w/
Being a soldier isn't quite going to be as exciting.
Benfolio 10:22AM (12/17/2008)
"I beg to differ because Jeep has not lost it's appeal"
That's because you can get a Jeep on the cheep and there's still tons of poser teenage boys and girls who want one for the 'image' and can't afford a Hummer.
jharlan 10:31AM (12/17/2008)
A Hummer is a statement of status, a display of wealth and social position, sort of a redneck Rolls, and as such it might pay to raise their prices until they can make a profit. It would make them even more desireable to those who need to show their elite economic status.
Reply
JSams4131 11:18AM (12/17/2008)
lmfao hit it dead on
SingleGuyMoney 11:13AM (12/17/2008)
Even though gas prices have fallen, why would anyone want to drop their hard earned cash on one of these things? Well, besides the image of course.
Reply
steve 11:16AM (12/17/2008)
does anybody actually buy these things. The people who once thought they were a status symbol are few and far between these days. Now these freak trucks remind people of a failed nation, a failed military and a failed car company-not something they really want to think about
Reply
JSams4131 11:23AM (12/17/2008)
The only people I still see drive hummers is middle aged housewives who have nothing better to do all day than waste their hubby's money..
MajorGeek 11:31AM (12/17/2008)
I love how one guy makes a statement about who drives the Hummer, then a pile of sheep come in to repeat it over and over. This is America, are you jealous because you can't drop 60k on a vehicle? If not, what do you care what someone else chooses to drive or spend their money on? Mind your own business and worry about your own life, thats the lesson here not who drives what. You should rejoice and applaud that we can drive what we want because the way things are going it won't be like this much longer. I swear sometimes I forget this is a website dedicated to automobiles.
Reply
Judy Zik 1:37PM (12/17/2008)
Actually it's a website about the Auto Industry and everyone has a right to like or dislike a vehicle or brand just as you have the right to drive what you want. We all have vehicles we would or wouldn't buy in every price point (including ones we may never obtain). It is not like anyone is telling you what you can and can't buy. Vehicles have trends just like fashion. Unfortunately the more trendy something is today the more dated it is tomorrow. One minute you will look really cool for driving something and the next minute people will think it's crap. If you bought it to impress others worry about it. If you bought it to enjoy yourself then don't.
What the above comments really point out is that for the majority of car buyers the Hummer brand doesn't have any value anymore. It's value was as an amazing off road vehicle but they never got to the point of a "everyman's version" like Jeep and that is where the volume and long term market is. Unfortunately most buyers who could afford a Hummer ended up being middle aged guys with thinning hair who only drove these ridiculously oversized vehciles on paved roads because they thought they were like tanks that would intimidate other drivers. There are those who bought Hummers to drive them off road but they are far out numbered by the posers who have never seen a dirt road. Not great for the brand image.
One way or another it looks like the Chinese are interested and Hummer has to go. It should be interesting to see what the Chinese do with the dealer network. Will this be the foot hold they have been looking for to import cars assuming they ever build something that can be sold here?
steve 11:42AM (12/17/2008)
you are right, what kind of world would it be if we couldn't laugh at complete losers in their big army trucks on their way to starbucks
Reply
MajorGeek 11:56AM (12/17/2008)
Keep showing your jealousy.
JZeke 12:17PM (12/17/2008)
I like GM, and I hate the Hummer.
I'm pro-America, and I hate the Hummer.
I love muscle cars, and I hate the Hummer.
And so on...
There's no good brand equity in these beasts because GM decided it was more important to make Hummer an image brand, than a product driven by ability. The H1 was spectacularly awesome, but instead of hewing to that form-is-a-result-of-function aesthetic they watered it down and made it a comically oversized Jeep wannabe.
Had they ignored the focused groups, invested in a couple of punch-riveting machines they might have delivered a product that was less about posing and more about how intense the original H1 experience was.
Instead they coveted cheap plastic chrome, gun slit windows and gaudy yellow paint.
I'm all for GM's comeback, but let Hummer die a swift and ignominious death. GM doesn't need this hunch on its back any longer.
Reply
oollyoumn 12:20PM (12/17/2008)
I can drop $60k on a vehicle, but I wouldn't take a Hummer if it was free. Just because people dislike Hummers, does not prove jealousy. Conclusions on another persons actions, are usually made based on the assumption that others have the same rational. Frequently this is not true, but rather what one wishes were true.
Reply
Mike 1:09PM (12/17/2008)
The problem with HUMMER is this: Everyone upon hearing the name, immediately thinks of the suit driving a bright yellow and chrome H2 to the local trendy coffee shop.
The HUMMER brand made four vehicles, the H1 (Discontinued civilian HMMWV), H2 (Huge overpriced SUV), H3 (The forgotten SUV), and the H4 (HX Concept that may or may not see production). Out of those, the H1 was what it was, take it or leave it. The H2 was... words can not even describe, personally I think they're a huge waste of steel and ABS plastic. The H3 is a great, if slightly underpowered and more expensive alternative to a Jeep for those who wanted a little more comfort to go with their off-road prowess. Even though its specs mirror other vehicles in its class like the Nissan Xterra and Toyota FJ Cruiser, the American people still had not gotten the bad taste out of their mouth that the H2 had left behind. So due to its fat jackass of an older sibling, the unassuming younger brother gets dumped on because of family ties by all those who felt wronged by the other.
Mind you, I still see soccer moms driving H3s completely contrary to their off-road underpinnings, but I also see lifted Wranglers, all chromed out, at the mall too. My favorite is the guy in my town who drives around in the summer with a TJ Rubicon with 24" wheels and 31" tires. I could punch him for defacing a Jeep that way, but welcome to America. My point is this, stop focusing so much on brands and focus more on the vehicles themselves. Finding fault with a vehicle from a certain brand, warranted or not, does not immediately disqualify all the remaining vehicles from their fair trial based on their performance alone. If it did, people would hate the new ZR1 because their Cavalier broke down.
Reply
sdcarnut 2:29PM (12/17/2008)
Ya know GM needs to close a few brands, Hummer and Saturn are the only 2 brands with stand alone dealerships, I bet if Gm cant sell either of these 2 brands, it would be cheaper to sell either of them for ONE DOLLAR to the china or am generals of the world, seeing Olds cost them close to 1 billion to shut down, they could just sell them for a buck and get out of there franchise agreements !
Reply
Johnny 3:26PM (12/17/2008)
I guess I'm in the minority here but I still love the H1. I know it's terribly impractical in every sense of the word, but it seems like it'd be awesome to own. I'm telling you...some day I'll pick up a used H1 and get a homemade bio-diesel operation going.
Reply
Mike 4:29PM (12/17/2008)
My question to you Johnny is this:
Why do you want an H1, for the literally bullet proof off-road performance, or because you would have one of the biggest vehicles on the road and command others respect? Your response dictates whether you are a true enthusiast or a fool. As for the bio-diesel idea, I'm all for it.
Reply