Hummer's Future

The Phantom called this morning to let us all know that the sale of the Hummer brand my GM "is imminent." We are looking at a matter of weeks now instead of months and financing and legal approval by the Department of Commerce are the only things getting in the way of the new buyers (that's right plural - buyers). Actually, there are several interested buyers and they are from different countries. The Phantom says Hummer will announce the shutting down the AM General H2 plant in the near future.

On the positive side, discussions have already taken place about keeping some of the manufacturing and production in the United States. One problem that needs to be surmounted according to the Phantom, is that a sale of Hummer to a country outside the U.S. would require approval of the Department of Commerce.

The Phantom advises me the prospective buyer is also very interested in the H1. The Phantom tells me that under AM General's agreement with GM, it can still sell civilian H1s as "fleet sales" (not through a Hummer dealership) and that some have been sold this way in 2008 to foreign countries. Wouldn't you love to have one of the only 2008 H1s in the world!!

Hummer's CEO, James Taylor gave an extensive interview at the Detroit Auto Show this month, but everyone at GM is still MUM about who the two potential buyers are. As has been said many times, there are many third world countries where the Hummer's abilities to traverse muddy roads, streams and rocks is extremely desirable.

Taylor also said in the interview,"In HUMMER's case, HUMMER is still HUMMER. We haven't stretched it outside to be all things to all people and to appeal to a really broad market. It's stayed very focused, and it delivers. As competition gets higher and higher and higher and there's more supply side, the guys that win are the guys that have brands that are real ones. That deliver what they say they're going to do. So that's the good thing about HUMMER. That's an attractive proposition for some investor that wants to buy a little car company that's successful and has a good brand. That's our hope. "

The Hummer CEO said, "If there's a disappointed HUMMER owner, it's because they weren't looking for a HUMMER. They bought the wrong car. If you're looking for a vehicle that does what this does, you're not going to be disappointed." AMEN!!!!

The Phantom gives Taylor high marks for his candid discussion about the Hummer.

For the entire interview go to:
http://suvs.about.com/od/hummer/a/taylorinterview.htm