GM Said to Not Win Chinese Approval for Hummer Sale (Update2)

[HummerJim]

By Katie Merx
Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co. failed to win approval from Chinese regulators to sell its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., said two people briefed on the deal.
A government agency indicated that it won?t provide approval for Chengdu, China-based Tengzhong to purchase the Hummer line of sport-utility vehicles from GM in China, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the decision hasn?t been made public.
The deal may be completed offshore, the people said. Regulators said they won?t block a transaction closed elsewhere, one person said. Suolang Duoji, Tengzhong?s investment partner in pursuing Hummer, has holdings that include 38 percent of Hong Kong-based Lumena Resources Corp., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Lumena is incorporated in the Cayman Islands.
?The key element here is that both parties want to do the deal,? said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. ?None of these deals to sell car brands are simple. If they still want to do it, it?s still possible it will happen.?
Acquiring Hummer would propel Tengzhong, a closely held maker with products including bridge parts, into the passenger- vehicle industry. The company has said it wants to expand Hummer into China and other expanding markets outside the U.S., which accounted for about two-thirds of the brand?s sales under GM.
Hummer CEO James Taylor and Christina Stenson, a spokeswoman for Tengzhong in New York, each declined to comment. Baodong Wang, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., didn?t have an immediate comment.
To build and sell in China, Tengzhong would still need approval from Chinese regulatory and licensing agencies, according to the people.
Hummer is among four brands, along with Pontiac, Saab and Saturn, that Detroit-based GM is unloading to focus on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac in the U.S. after exiting bankruptcy on July 10.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...-update1-.html

[HummerMann]

This is the saga that never ends. I still want to see the Hummer brand continue, but if Tengzhong can't do it, I put my vote in for the owner of AM General. You know by now the price has gone way down, so Hummer could be purchased very reasonably, and at AM General they have a good track record for knowing how to build quality vehicles. As a bussinessman, it's obvious that Tengzhong has already invested millions in this, and wants to manufacture the Hummer, so I'm not totally sure they'll go down without a fight.

[Viet Nam Vette]

Originally Posted by HummerMann

This is the saga that never ends. I still want to see the Hummer brand continue, but if Tengzhong can't do it, I put my vote in for the owner of AM General. You know by now the price has gone way down, so Hummer could be purchased very reasonably, and at AM General they have a good track record for knowing how to build quality vehicles. As a bussinessman, it's obvious that Tengzhong has already invested millions in this, and wants to manufacture the Hummer, so I'm not totally sure they'll go down without a fight.

The deal may be completed offshore, the people said. Regulators said they won’t block a transaction closed elsewhere, one person said. Suolang Duoji, Tengzhong’s investment partner in pursuing Hummer, has holdings that include 38 percent of Hong Kong-based Lumena Resources Corp., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Lumena is incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

“The key element here is that both parties want to do the deal,”

It could still happen.... Or as you say ..AM General Could step up to the palte. I heard they are on their last round of orders for the "Humvee" (2620 Units") .. The Milatary has a new rig they want built. Who knows if AM General will get that contract.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,5047776.story

[wingn69]

I would have to agree I would love to see AMG get Hummer back and now that the Army is going to phase out the Hummer for the Army main truck. it would be a good time i think for them to jump in and bring Hummer Home.

[dvl57]

From GM's website:

http://media.gm.com/content/media/us...eb/0224_hummer


I guess there won't be a 2010 H2 model....or any other Hummers.

I wonder if the dealers will be closing their doors soon.

Its kind of hard to imagine no more Hummers.

[sleeve]

BREAKING: GM announces Hummer sale cannot be concluded, brand to be wound down
by Chris Paukert (RSS feed) on Feb 24th 2010 at 3:16PM



Although it has been evident for some time that General Motors' sale of its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd., we didn't expect for word to come down today that the negotiations are dead and the brand will be wound down. Unfortunately, judging by a press release just issued by GM, that's exactly what will be happening. According to John Smith, GM's vice president of corporate planning and alliances,

"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."

As we learned from the Saab sale saga, GM announcing that the brand will be wound down does not completely extinguish hope for another buyer to slip in in the 11th hour, but it does seem highly improbable that a new party will pick up where the negotiations with China's Tengzhong left off.

In the statement available after the jump, GM does not specify what killed the planned sale of the brand, but rumors in recent months suggested that the Chinese government was not keen to sign off on the deal. At the moment, it is unclear what will happen to Hummer's H2 and H3/H3T models, but it is likely that the tooling and manufacturing rights will be sold off to other companies. It is also unclear how many employees will be out of work as a result of the closure.

As with the wind-down of its Saturn and Pontiac brands, GM has pledged to honor Hummer warranties and continue to supply service and parts

[DRTYFN]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...022401259.html