When the deal fell through with the chinks, there seemed to be NO HOPE for any salvation of these many hundreds of jobs. But, I read this morning that there IS another offer on the table. But, ObozO Motors seems to be rejecting it out of hand. I wonder why?
Well, this article may shed a bit of light as to why.
From the report:
General Motors says it will proceed with the shutdown of the HUMMER brand, but TheCarConnection has confirmed that an American company has twice expressed interest in a HUMMER deal--both before and after a failed bid from a Chinese company.
Raser Technologies is a Utah-based engineering firm that has produced electric-conversion 2009 HUMMER H3 prototypes. According to sources, Raser made an offer for HUMMER but was denied in favor of the eventual bid by Chinese truckmaker Sichuan Tengzhong--a bid that eventually failed due to lack of financing and possibly, pressure from the Chinese government.
And:
...the company has also developed its own extended-range plug-in hybrid technology that could be beneficial--or a direct competitor--to General Motors' own patents for "E-REV" hybrids like the upcoming Chevrolet Volt.
Last year, Raser showed its technology in a HUMMER H3 at the 2009 SAE Congress, and later shipped the test vehicle to Sacramento for a test drive by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the recurring characters in the HUMMER story since the brand was created with GM buying the name rights from military supplier AM General.
The Raser plug-in HUMMER H3 offers performance specs that sound similar to those of the Volt-- (emphasis mine) with 40 miles of battery-only operation possible, and a 400-mile driving range in all, with 100-mpg-plus fuel economy possible according to Raser's estimates.
So, why would a company that is owned by the "green friendly" Obama administration continue plans to shut down the Hummer brand while there is a "taker?" And a "Green" taker at that!
Well...if you can't figure it out on your own...I can't help ya'!
This is what happens when companies sell their souls to the gubmit!
Buy a Ford. Or a horse.
Just another example of why GM is not long for this world.
ReplyDeleteAnd Barry recently tried to proclaim that "govmint isn't all bad". In his hands, yah it is.
ReplyDeleteWord verif was fitting for the post: dedpa
We shall agree to disagree about GM. The more I think about it, the more tempted I am to buy that CTS I've been thinking about lately. And post pictures of it EVERY day.
ReplyDeleteBuck, I know you are a GM man. At least if you buy one, I will feel a little (only a little) better about the use of my tax dollars.
ReplyDeleteHeh! Always been a Ford man, myself.
ReplyDeleteBut the way things are going, we might soon all wish we had one of those things BR drives. ;)
Andy, I love cars and I used to be a GM guy. In the 50's as a teen I entered model cars in their Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild. My first car in the late 50's was a Chevy. In 1965 I owned a Catalina and in 68 a GTO 400 cu. inch V8 and then a 69 Catalina. The Hummer probably gets better mileage than the GTO did! But the GTO was a sweet car. I like the Hummer too. There's something really in your face American about it. The article you cite shows a consequence of gummit ownership--they will attempt to use their power to prop up this failing company while people like the workers at the La. plant (and interested Hummer buyers) suffer the consequences.
ReplyDeleteBuck, I know you are a GM man.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of reasons for this, chief among them are the many close friends I still have in Dee-troit who work for The General. It's fairly easy for an outsider to point fingers at bad management, complain about the bailout, bash the UAW and so on. I've done the same thing, so you're not alone by any means. My friends rail about all those things, too, with the possible exception of the bailout. That said, they still work their collective tails off and GM is putting out some fine product of late. I'm still a believer and GM remains a great American institution. Don't forget your history.
I'm thinking rickshaw.
ReplyDeleteAndy, I have always loved GM cars, but with the government involvement in GM, I have had some questions. First can the government be trusted to fairly investigate companies like Toyota and if the government levies a fine against them, do they now have grounds to fight it, because it is a competitor that is fining them. I bet there could be a court fight there. Can we trust the MSMs who said their job was to make sure that Obama is a success to tell us the truth about companies like Toyota or could there be some stretching of the truth about them? I noticed the government turned down a loan to the new V vehicle plant being built in Monroe. My first thought was the owners of GM turning down a loan request from a potential competitor? Of course I don't know all the details of it though. Also to keep the GM initials. you need to add a G to the front of Obama Motors. Or just call it Government Motors.
ReplyDeleteDarrell: My thoughts exactly...on the V Vehicle...may be too much competition for the Volt.
ReplyDeleteBuck & Darrell, I just grew up on Fords...owned one Dodge, and one Chevy in my 34 years of driving. However, I will say that Chevy's S-10 (also built in SHV) is quite possibly the finest mid-size pickup EVER built. Son #3 owns one that was built the year he was born, and it still runs like a scalded dog.
Moogie, Bwahahahaha! I can just see it: Pepper in the front with his big straw hat on, and Moogie in the back with a parasol.
Take pictures.
My first car was in 1980, I got a Ford Pinto in Alaska for 500. It was a 72 model. You know, the one with the exploding gas tank in the rear. Hatchback, stick shift, and I could tell what the road was like if I looked down under my wife's feet at the road below. What a rust bucket! I cleaned the plugs once a week in the summer and when the winter hit, it was twice a week. A quart of oil a week was usually the norm. I didn't have anybody that would follow to close for very long. And mosquitoes beware. Who needs to pay for mosquitoe sprayers if I am driving by. But I got a year out of it and sold it for what I paid for it even after telling the new owner everything wrong with it. A couple years later the city of Anchorage informed me it would be theirs if i didn't come down and get it. Since I knew the new owner had blown the engine I told them to keep it. Now when I go by the race track east of bossier and see the ford pintos being pulled in there with their 8 cylander engines I am amazed. But it will always have a special place in my life.
ReplyDeleteDarrell, NYUK! Believe this or not...my older brother Chip had one of those exploding gas tank Pintos also.
ReplyDeleteHe was working at the Kroger Grocery store in the old Eastgate shopping center in 1975, and got rear-ended hard by some old blue hair while trying to park the thing. HARD!
Well...he's still alive. The Pinto didn't explode on him.
In an odd way, we truly do associate "the times of our lives" with the vehicles we experienced them in. I know I do.
I shall ALWAYS have fond memories of my '73 Dodge Dart (Swinger edition). That is the vehicle that The Mrs. and I first discovered long term love/lust/whatever.
I shall always remember my faithful Ford F-150 that carried me through trials and tribulations when I was working "on the road." And, to fast forward...I will ALWAYS have fondness for Mercury Sables. Been driving them for over a dozen years now to every ball game, graduation, military graduation, wedding, etc.
Heck, I even have minor affection for U-Haul trucks...mostly GM.
Good times! Good memories!