Posted on 02/24/2010 12:51:25 PM PST by Kartographer
General Motors Co.'s deal to sell the Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. (STHIM.YY) for $150 million fell through, signaling the end of a brand that just a few years ago was one of GM's hottest.
Earlier Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that Tengzhong had been told its takeover application "is not going to be accepted" by Chinese regulators. Those authorities were reluctant to let a Chinese company acquire a brand they see as unfriendly to the environment.
Moreover, the bid from Tengzhong, an industrial company that doesn't currently make automobiles, came at a time that authorities are looking to winnow the ranks of China's auto makers, which number more than 100.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The H1 was unique and capable. The H2 was a rebranded Tahoe.
The study performed by those two Harvard professors a few years ago showed the Hummer H1 cost about half of the Prius for the entire life cycle of the vehicles.
The H1 was at least $80K. No way the life cycle costs would be less than the Prius.
I agree, but I wasn’t referring to the H1 as Land Rover competition. I was referring to the follow-on line of vehicles H1 and H2. The H1 had much more status thant the Land Rover, but mainly because the price ($100K) and the military heritage. But they sucked on the road and that became immediately apparent.
And Hummer sales dropped through the floor EXACTLY at the same time that the oil prices jumped. You couldn’t drive 200yds without passing a butt-ugly H2. They even built specialized Hummer dealerships in the shape of tin quonset huts. Those vehicles were selling HARD, but only for a short time frame. If gas was cheap, this brand would still be viable because there are always plenty of suckers out there.
They were talking about the H2.
Ok. He said H1.
I still don't believe it for the H2. It was $60K plus MSRP.
I think Tata Motors will buy Hummer! It will be much better to have an Indian company owning the brand then the Chinese Commies!
errr. CHINESE company, not JAPANESE...
They already own Land Rover, which was a huge blow to the Brit ego.
As an Indian (now American, God bless him) friend said to me: “The British empire extended all over the world. They just didn’t think we’d follow them back home.”
That’s very low for a H1, especially at MSRP (which is always higher that what you really pay).
The H1 retailed for around $100K.
You can find Escalades in the $60K range, so I’d imagine it would take only a little work to get the H2 to $60K at MSRP.
Oh crap, there goes what I thought was a good point.
:)
What does this say about the douchebags with too much disposable income market?
I take this as a bad sign for Sharper Image and Details Magazine as well.
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