HUMMER Grille

HUMMER Grille

Despite hopes that a new buyer for Hummer would be found after an original sale deal with China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd. (Tengzhong) fell through, General Motors will now shut the brand down for good.

GM originally said that it had several parties still interested in acquiring Hummer and that a deadline for the sale was set at May 1, however, company spokesman Nick Richards said plans to shut down the brand were brought forward.

The winding down process would be similar to what GM did for Saturn and Pontiac. Existing inventories would be cleared out with generous rebates and remaining dealers would be paid varying settlement amounts. According to Richards, those dealers--153 in the U.S.--were told of the grim news over a conference call this morning. Hummer CEO Jim Taylor has also retired, effective immediately.

GM would also continue to honor Hummer warranties, while providing service support and spare parts to remaining owners around the world.

There are roughly 2,200 new Hummers currently in stock, and some of the incentives we can expect to see will include 0 percent financing and customer cash.

[Automotive News, sub req’d]