there's still a market for the footlocker with wheels

"Michel" > wrote in message
...
> news.google.com
>
> China buys all-American Hummer for $150 million
>
> William Ehart
>
> Nothing was more American than the Hummer.
>
> It was Schwarzenegger, cigars and swagger, laughing in the face of
> scornful environmentalists.
>
> Only now the Chinese are laughing.
>
> General Motors sold the military-inspired off-road brand to China's
> Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. for a reported $150
> million on Friday, consummating a deal announced in early June.
>
> Tengzhong, a sprawling conglomerate with no car-building experience,
> will own 80 percent of the company. Hong Kong investor Suolang Duoji,
> who in turn is a major investor in Tengzhong, will own the rest. They
> will assume existing agreements with Hummer's 160 U.S. dealerships,
> including two in the Washington area.
>
> In its June bankruptcy filing, GM estimated that Hummer was worth $500
> million. The deal requires regulatory approval in both Washington and
> Beijing.
>
> GM said it will continue to make the Hummer at least until June 2011,
> with an option to continue another year. Hummer's management team will
> stay in place, and company headquarters will be located in the Detroit
> area.
>
> After GM's attempts to sell its Saturn brand failed last week,
> analysts called the deal a victory for GM despite the low price tag.
>
> "It's good news for General Motors, they actually got some money out
> of it versus having to spend money to wind it down, as they have to do
> with Saturn," said Michelle Krebs, an analyst with auto information
> site Edmunds.com.
>
> Back in February, while seeking more federal aid, GM said that it
> would sell or close its Hummer, Saturn and Saab divisions in an effort
> to succeed as a leaner, more profitable company.
>
> Concern about Hummer's sale to the Chinese was muted.
>
> "Yeah, it feels a little weird," said Anthony Cancel, new car sales
> manager at Moore Cadillac Hummer in Chantilly.
>
> "But Americans are still going to build these cars" for a while, Mr.
> Cancel said. "That's going to employ 3,000 Americans."
>
> He noted that even with Hummer's future in doubt, his dealership was
> still selling 15 of the vehicles a month, down from a peak of 75. GM
> has not produced the car for six months, he said.
>
> "It came at a pretty good time, we only have two left. From the time
> they turn the factory on it takes four weeks for us to get cars," Mr.
> Cancel said.
>
> Ms. Krebs said the Chinese are following the lead of the Japanese and
> Koreans, but not by building the cars on their own.
>
> "The Chinese are achieving a global presence by acquisition rather
> than introducing their own brands," she said. "They're buying low
> right now."
>
> Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. has joined a Swedish
> consortium led by Koenigsegg seeking to complete the purchase of Saab
> this month. China's Geely Automobile was interested in buying Opel
> from GM and is bidding to buy Volvo from Ford Motor Co.
>
> "It's the same with the Indians, with Tata [Motors] buying Jaguar and
> Land Rover," Ms. Krebs said.
>
> The Financial Times reported this week that Geely's bid for money-
> losing Volvo was worth $2 billion but that Ford had concerns about
> protecting its technology. The London newspaper reported that a U.S.
> consortium led by former Detroit executives has also placed a bid.
>
> Independent auto analyst Tom Libby said trade is so interconnected now
> that Chinese ownership of Hummer is unlikely to diminish its macho
> appeal.
>
> "I have always held that the Hummer brand has value in this market and
> I consider it a viable competitor to Jeep," he said.
>
> The Jeep had its origin in the U.S. military, he said, and still
> benefits from "sort of a patriotism connection."
>
> The Hummer is derived from the Humvee, the U.S. military's successor
> to the Jeep.
>
> California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican and former action-
> movie hero, persuaded military contractor AM General to make a
> civilian version of the Humvee in the early 1990s. AM General of South
> Bend, Ind., continues to make the military Humvee.
>
> The challenge for Hummer, with fresh capital from Tengzhong, will be
> to reinvent the brand, which has suffered in recent years from its gas-
> guzzling image. The company will improve efficiency and performance
> and branch out to alternative fuels and diesel engines.
>
> There's no image problem in China, though.
>
> "I think it works for China," Ms. Krebs said. "I have been to China
> and Hummers are real popular there, even though they are only sold on
> the gray market. I've seen them on the streets of Shanghai.
>
> "They're popular in the Middle East and there are opportunities
> elsewhere, such as Russia," she said.