At one point there was believed to be a savior – Tengzhong. A Chinese automobile maker and truck producer. They wanted to share in the Chinese obsession with American made cars. And most importantly, they wanted to keep making Hummer vehicles – even newer models were proposed like the H4 and H5 concepts.

But as many instances in life you cannot predict what will come next: The turn of opinions, financial deals, especially with big business. Tengzhong’s deal fell threw, twice, and Hummer saw no rainbow at the end of their cloudy weather.

GM has yet to decide the fate of some 3600 Hummer employees throughout the Southern and Midwestern United States. As for the 2000 Hummer vehicles still available on dealership lots – you can get a sweet deal with up to $6000 off 2010 models. In the end, for Hummer, it’s like the song goes: “It’s over and done with…”

And really, has a bit of Americana died along with Hummer? Sure, people saw it as a symbol of excess, douche-baggery and what not. Nevertheless, a Hummer rolling down suburban streets stood for something that no other country had. It was full of pride, apple pie…lots and lots of apple pies (because they’re so big, get it?) – In a way, we lost a bit of what it means to be American when we dump a vehicle like Hummer. So to you I say good night, sweet prince. See you on the other side.

It’s Germany’s CarFilmComponents (CFC) offering a tuner version of the last Hummer H2: done in a “not-so-subtle burning chrome” laminate. The car is actually coated with an adhesive film.

The chrome and carbon fiber covered H2 features a 480 horse power engine atop massive 28-inch light alloy wheels, wrapped in Kumho tires. There are also the interestingly-named LSD wing doors and a FOX performance exhaust system.

Inside, this intensely over-the-top H2 contains a couch made with a mix of leather and Alcantara, oh and a mini-bar. There’s a massive multi-media system which includes a digital TV, DVD player, and XETEC amplifiers and subwoofers.

I guess if you’re gonna go out, might as well do it in style. The source: WorldCarFans

According to The LA Times: GM said it would now begin “the orderly wind-down of the Hummer operations.” The process is expected to take several months, and the automaker said it would consider any “viable” offers for all or part of the brand. GM went through a similar situation with its Swedish Saab division. After first saying it could not find buyers and that it would close the company, GM sold Saab to Dutch sports-car maker Spyker Cars last month.

The Hummer, with its outsized body and gas-guzzling engines, was a “hedonistic” symbol of a bygone era of U.S. automotive development and it’s “no surprise” that GM could not complete a sale, said Rebecca Lindland, auto industry analyst at IHS Global Insight.

“Realistically, I think this is the right thing to do. It was doubtful that the brand was going to be successful. This was a brand that had its day,” Lindland said. “Closing Hummer simultaneously improves the health of GM, China and the planet. Hummer should rest in pieces,” said Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign, a Washington advocacy group that wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

About 3,000 jobs in the U.S. are tied to building and selling Hummers. Under terms of the scuttled deal, assembly plants in Louisiana and Indiana would have continued to produce Hummers under contract for Tengzhong until June 2011, with an optional one-year extension.

General Motors has already repeatedly extended its deadline for completing the $200 million deal, with the current deadline at the end of this week; the original closing date was last September. But the would-be buyer, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., has failed to win regulatory approval for the transaction at a time when senior Chinese officials are trying to put a new emphasis on environmental responsibility.

Tengzhong is still trying to complete the transaction by setting up a subsidiary outside China to purchase Hummer, according to Chinese media reports on Tuesday that were confirmed by people close to the transaction who insisted on anonymity because of the political and financial sensitivity of the deal.

“As long as they are talking, they are going to try to make a deal,” said one of these people. General Motors declined to comment. Tengzhong officials could not be reached for comment.

Providing new details on the proposed deal, these people said that the biggest obstacle to emerge in the last few days was not regulatory approval, as suggested by the Chinese media, but bank financing. While people in the auto industry have known for several weeks of regulators’ reluctance to endorse the deal, the bank difficulties have only surfaced in recent days.

Regulators have informally agreed not to object if Tengzhong makes the purchase through an offshore subsidiary, said another person knowledgeable about the transaction.

But if an offshore subsidiary is used, Hummer would not qualify under Chinese regulations as a Chinese company after the deal. It would not be able to shift production to China any time soon because China only allows foreign automakers to set up 50-50 joint ventures with Chinese car companies, and each of these deals also requires individual approval from regulators.

While Tengzhong has the cash to pay for the Hummer brand, it needs bank financing to operate the division, redesign vehicles and set up new production facilities.

Some of China’s biggest banks had agreed to provide that financing, but have now pulled out partly because they prefer to lend to projects with Beijing’s blessing and partly because of concerns about whether Hummer can be run profitably without a factory in China, one of the people close to the transaction said.

Tengzhong has been desperately trying to persuade Western banks in the last few days to lend it the money to operate Hummer while keeping it outside China, but has found little enthusiasm so far, this person added.

Hummer sales have plunged in the past two years because of the combination of high gas prices and the slump in the global economy. Under the deal originally put together last June by General Motors and Tengzhong, G.M. would continue manufacturing the Hummer H3 and H3T for Tengzhong at least through the end of this year in Shreveport, Louisiana.

And so ends the era of another military vehicle. Years ago, Jeep owned the landscape of any country we were saving/invading. In the late 80′s, Humvee was all over the Middle East. Well, we’re still in that region, but other vehicles will take over and leave Humvee Skeletons covered in sand.

Via Jalopnik

According to sources: “Effective January 19th, all Hummer production will stop, that includes the contract manufacturing at AM General for the Hummer H2 and the production at GM’s Shreveport, Louisiana plant where the Hummer H3 and H3T are built.”

Nick Richards, public relations representative for Hummer, stated that inventories for Hummers nationwide are up to hundreds of days on hand, after a run of 2010 models beginning in October. After a year when dealers have seen an 85% decline in sales year over year, GM’s decided to stop production until the sale to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corporation. But now, the deal has been cleared by United States regulators. Chinese agencies involved are taking their time completing its side of the process. Richards says Hummer is confident a deal will be reached, but was unable to provide a projected completion date.

via: Jalopnik

I don’t know what gets under my skin more – entitled, power-crazed “peace” officers or entitled, white college kids with smart mouths. Luckily in this clip, which features an apparently staged neighborhood snowball fight in suburban DC, both cop and kids get bullied around. At first viewing I felt the cop deserved to be taunted and mocked. Upon further watching I would have been totally fine if he shot every one of their Caucasian rich-parent behinds.

The Source: Autorocker / Jalopnik

Hummer’s Chinese owners are planning to change the public’s perception through the launch of two new fuel-efficient models. Per the terms of the agreement, GM’s deal with Tengzhong gives the Chinese company access to the engineering work already done on Hummer’s H4 model, originally the HX concept.

And yes, another number, another model. According to Hummer, the H5 will retain Hummer’s off-road status but will place a heavy emphasis on fuel economy. In fact, Hummer is working on hybrid and even all-electric drivetrains.

Source: LeftLaneNews