REPORT: Tata and Mahindra interested in HUMMER
Posted Jun 6th 2008 2:51PM by
John Neff
Filed under:
HUMMER,
India
Got an automotive brand to sell? It doesn't matter how it's performing in the marketplace, whether its products are outdated or just not popular in the present buying climate. If you've got one, an Indian automaker wants to buy it. At least that's the way it seems after learning that two Indian automakers, Tata and Mahindra, have approached General Motors to purchase the HUMMER brand. GM only announced that it would begin considering
what to do with HUMMER this week.
Tata has already gobbled up Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, but apparently is still hungry for some more American-owned metal, and what's more American than HUMMER? Mahindra, meanwhile, will be bringing its
diesel-powered Appalachian pickup to the U.S. market by the end of 2009. Tata and Mahindra tend to go after the same things, as both were bidders for Jaguar/Land Rover and
both are competing for the right to own motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta. Of course, neither India-based company is commenting on their interest in HUMMER and GM's all like, "Whoa, we just said we were
thinking about it" (not an actual quote). HUMMER sales last month fell 60.2% last month compared to May 2007, and with gas prices going up and up, the poster brand for insensitive consumption may not have long to live under the GM corporate umbrella.
[Source:
Automotive News, sub. req'd]