Will Tengzhong Build Hummer HX?
One of the more interesting concept vehicles I have previewed over the past few years was the Hummer HX, an off-road vehicle that somewhat resembles a bloated Jeep Wrangler. Previewed at the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, the HX was designed by a team of three twenty-something designers led by David Rojas, suggesting a new design and engineering direction for the iconic military-esque brand.
Tengzhong’s Bid For Hummer Accepted
Yesterday, news about Hummer’s sale to Tengzhong, a Chinese heavy industrial equipment maker surfaced, a move which will inject fresh cash into parent General Motors while preserving the jobs of about three thousand factory workers and dealership employees. With two US factories to tap, Hummer will continue to be built in the states — at least for now — and could see some new models, perhaps the HX.
The following pictures of the HX (courtesy of GM Corp.) show a model that is geared to younger drivers, with removable body panels that will allow drivers to customize their ride for whatever type of trip that they take. Imagine the HX on Daytona Beach — the roof panel comes off. Or, pounding its way through mud — wheel panels could be removed. Even the doors come off, just like on a Wrangler.
There are some things that need to be ironed out to make the Tengzhong deal a reality. Though Tengzhong is a privately owned business, the communist government must approve of the deal first.
Pushing For Smaller Cars
China has been pushing its own automakers to build smaller cars, thus Hummer flies in the face of what the central government wants. Yet, I expect that this deal will go through as it will give China an important toe-hold in the US automobile market, the first of its kind. Don’t be surprised if Tengzhong eventually merges with a Chinese car company as the communists want to consolidate the fourteen companies now operating in China down to a much smaller and easier to manage number.
The US government will need to formally approve of the Hummer deal too, but since the feds now own at least 60% of GM, that shouldn’t be a problem. President Obama has already praised the deal, thus if Congress objects they’ll have to go up against him in order to oppose the deal. That isn’t likely to happen.
GM purchased Hummer from AM General in 1998; that company will continue to make Humvee military vehicles for the US government as its operations aren’t affected by Hummer’s sale.
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The Hummer can only exist in a country with government price control for gasoline and basically no environmental regulation. They are going where they can survive and I’m okay with that. We need to be thinking about innovation and what’s next. The past should be left in the historic archives and move on with the future instead of worrying about where automoative relics end up.
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