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GM to close Hummer by end of August
By Hu Yang (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-08-23 17:53
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US automaker General Motors Co confirmed on Friday that the company would complete the final closure of its Hummer brand by the end of August, ending the vehicle's 18 years of civil commercial use, sina.com reported.
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GM began closing down Hummer on Feb 24 after the collapse of an agreement to sell the brand to China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. After that, investors from India, Russia and two Gulf Coast states showed interest, but all came to nothing.
Hummer retailers were officially told on April 6 by Detroit-based GM that the company would shut down the brand, but maintenance service and parts supply for Hummer will continue, GM promised.
Reporters from Guangzhou Daily learned from a domestic retailer that there will be no further supply of Hummer after the current inventory in China is sold out.
The current inventory in Beijing's market is about 10 units, retailers expect the price to surge by 80,000 yuan ($11,800) to 100,000 yuan after the shut down is announced.
Chen Guangzu, an expert in China's auto industry, said the closure is only a temporary move, similar vehicles will be produced in the future through corporate restructuring.
Hummer has its origins in a multipurpose vehicle known as the Humvee that was used by the US military. GM bought the brand in 1999, and its sales peaked in 2006, but they have been hit hard since then by a slumping US economy and higher gas prices.