Has the Hummer brand become too toxic to sell? After months of negotiations between General Motors and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd, a Chinese company, it appears as though the deal has fallen through. Speculation points at the Chinese government regulators unwillingness to grant approval to the deal.
While GM has said it is considering two previous offers on the brand, it also said it was getting ready to wind the brand down. This news comes around the same time the military announced that it winding down its Humvee fleet and preparing for a modern replacement.
Is this really the end of the Hummer era? Or will GM and its suitors find salvation for Hummer like it did for the spunky Saab brand?
Say what you will about the Hummer and its gas guzzling ways; I still find it sad whenever any car brand goes under. As you can imagine, last summer was especially difficult for me. It also means even more people will be put out of work. And while Hummer and the military Humvee no longer share anything in common besides a vague styling reference, to lose both at the same time kind of sucks anyway.
Why would I lament the end of such an anti-eco car? Well, every great rivalry needs a good guy and a bad guy, right? What would Batman be without the Joker, or Superman without Lex Luthor? While there are still plenty of gas guzzlers out there, the Hummer vs. Prius debate has become almost ingrained into the American psyche. And in the end, “good” did triumph over “evil”, the same way “boring” won out over “lavish”.
According to the Detroit News, there are less than 2,500 Hummers left on American dealership lots, so all that is left is to wind down the factories and dealerships. Still, GM did manage a last minute miracle by selling Saab to Spyker, although Saturn and Pontiac failed to spin off to potential bidders. We’ll have to wait to see what happens… but maybe Hummer is a brand better off dead.
Source: The Detroit News
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