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

Functional additions to the H3 Moab continue into the vehicle’s interior with the addition of custom all-weather flooring, HUMMER Genuine Accessory all-weather floor mats and cargo area mat. To aid in trail visibility, front- and rear-facing cameras have been integrated into the vehicle bumpers and display the terrain fore and aft on the navigation radio screen. Integrated into the rear cargo area of the vehicle is a Warn Air-Power SPI, ideal for airing-up tires for the trip home after a long weekend on the trail.

-via Hummer PR

According to rumors via BeyondHollywood.com: It looks like those pesky Chinese are trying to pull a fast one on us, guys. Look at their silly propaganda posters! Don’t believe them, they’re all lies! Ahem. New set pictures from the “Red Dawn” remake, currently shooting up north in Michigan. Looks like a fair share of the action will take place in town instead of the open countryside like the original. The town they’re shooting in also doesn’t look that small, or rural. Then again, movie magic, right?

Vehicle sales in general have dropped 50% in the large country, yet Hummer has doubled year-over-year totals. More then 900 H2’s & H3’s have been rolling off frozen lots, maybe proving yet again how other countries have a great crush on Americanism.

I know, 900 cars isn’t a huge amount – but it beats  Europe, where sales this past year around around half of Russia’s. America still at least likes Hummer, dealers sold 777 units in the U.S. in August.

“Hummer is becoming the brand of choice for the affluent who want a way to show off their conspicuous consumption. The Hummer Club of Russia, for instance, now includes 800-plus members. Russian Hummer dealers report that most buyers pay cash for their vehicles.” – according to Kicking Tires Blog.