Hummer Sold to Chinese Company by General Motors

General Motors sold Hummer on Friday, the company said in a news release. The sale of Hummer by General Motors was talked about for a while, but the official deal came through just hours ago. Hummer will be sold to the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp. in a deal that will bring a lot of sales to the Chinese auto industry. This is another good move by General Motors in their efforts to become viable in the market again, and though some may frown upon the decision to sell Hummer to a Chinese company, it seems like this was the best deal on the table for General Motors. This is going to mean possible changes to the dealerships as well.

The report of the Hummer sale has been made official, but the official sale price has not been released at this time. In an article by Tom Krisher for the Associated Press, he had a source that said the sale price was around $150 million. That sale price has not been confirmed as of yet, and actually seems quite low for the successful Hummer brand. Maybe with the changing economy and the fact that most Hummer vehicles under perform when it comes to MPG ratings, but I would have thought that Hummer would be worth a lot more than that amount. This could mean that the early estimate on the sale is incorrect, or that the Chinese company is walking away with a great deal.

With this deal, the new investors in Hummer will also receive Hummer's nationwide dealer network. This is where the changes to the company might come into play, depending on whether the new ownership wants to alter the way that business is done within the dealerships. It's possible that they will want it to be seamless and that they don't change anything in the view of the public. The biggest changes could take place behind the scenes, where the new owners look to make the Hummer lines even more profitable for their investors in the coming months and years.

It's a bit of a sad day that General Motors had to sell off an asset that was as iconic as the Hummer name, but it goes to show just how rough the auto market has had it in terms of business. In regards to sales numbers, only 8,193 Hummers were sold in the United States during the first nine months of 2009, so maybe General Motors knows exactly what they are doing in unloading this asset. The new company could create a more economic and gas friendly version of the Hummer if they work hard at it, and it's possible that we could soon see a re-birth of the Hummer vehicle much sooner than anticipated.

Source: Hummer Sale Announcement