Hummer is now Chinese....just doesn't sound right.

[Dargo]

I know, it's relatively old news, but I've been reading more in trade magazines where Sichuan Tengzhong is refusing to commit to Hummers being built in the U.S. past 2010. They say that they'll do what they can as long as the supply chain and labor costs are conducive to keeping Hummer plants in the U.S. Hm, do I really think that U.S. auto workers will work for what Chinese workers will?? I could be completely wrong, but I'm just not seeing it. It will just seem odd when the so called "emblem" of the U.S. military and symbol of a go anywhere tough vehicle is consigned to the cheapo Chinese discount rack.

There again, maybe Sichuan Tengzhong will actually work a deal to have the manufacturing costs at its Shreveport, La., plant in line with production costs in China. Who knows? At least the actual military version of the Hummer, actually Humvee, will still be built by the privately held AM General, based in South Bend, Ind. It would just seem really wrong to me if our troops were tooling around in Chinese made transport vehicles.

 

[jinman]

It's gonna be a race between Harbor Freight and Northern Tool to see who gets Hummers to sell first.

Hey! If they sell them at Harbor Freight, maybe your dad will give you one for Christmas to go with the Creeper he got you.

 

[Dargo]

Now I don't know who to believe. If the translation is correct, China's official news agency, the Xinhua News Agency, said this deal is "like a snake trying to swallow an elephant".

Xinhua seems to be trying to play this off as a publicity stunt by Sichuan Tengzhong with hints that it is to influence the ability to raise capital by a Chinese national who owns the company but is going public with another company he either owns or controls. Very confusing. Who knows, but it is at least somewhat interesting.

 

[MossRoad]

The H1 is the military version made in Mishawaka, Indiana and is owned by AM General. That one isn't for sale nor is it going anywhere. The plant is operational and turning out H1s by the hundreds. (They used to make commercial H1s for sale to the public... starting price was about a hundred grand. That didn't last too many years).

The H2 is made right next door to the H1 in Mishawaka, Indiana. That is the one that they have the agreement with GM to market and sell under the Hummer brand name. AM General makes it for GM. That plant is currently shut down. Almost all of the H2 workers have been absorbed into the H1 plant.

The H3 is also made by AM General for GM. I am not familiar with it or the current status of that plant. I assume it is also marketed under the Hummer brand name.

I believe the Hummer brand is for sale. I also heard yesterday the Chinese government is trying to block the purchase of the Hummer brand by a Chinses company. In my opinion, that is a wise move. They are a limited market with little chance of big profits.

When AM first came out with the H2 I got a tour of the plant. After that tour I predicted its failure to my family. A family memeber worked on the line at AM General at the time and was not too happy with my prediction. Here's why I thought it would fail...
1. It was big on the outside, yet I could not fit in the driver's seat without having to duck down to see out of the windows.
2. I could not fit in the middle seat. My knees would jam against the back of the driver's seat.
3. It had lots of plastic trim. Seemed pretty cheap for the expensive price tag.
4. It was a gas guzzling pig at a time when fuel prices were going up.
5. There were much better trucks for the price.
6. I knew what my family member was being paid to work there. Way too much, in my opinion.

Yes, she worked hard. Much harder than me. She drove screws into pre-drilled holes all day and made more than most college graduates. That ain't right. She got bonuses for showing up for work. She averaged 6 weeks of vacation each year. When she was laid off, she collected unemployment and the company paid her the difference. She made the same amount when she wasn't working as she did when she was. She said it was the same at all the U.S. auto plants. Then I started reading about the UAW worker pool. Tens of thousands of peopl not working each year but still getting paid. At that point I predicted the failure of the entire U.S. auto industry. Sadly, my hunch was correct. The labor AND management priced themselves out of their own jobs.

 

[jdbower]

As an interesting side effect, now for the first time a Chinese car manufacturer has a network of dealers in the US. Even if they scrap the questionable Hummer lineup but use those dealers to being Chinese cars to the US we could be seeing some more changes to the landscape like when Kia and Hyundai came over from South Korea.

 

[whistlepig]

When the USA sold Budweiser and my Clydesdales we hit rock bottom. That was the end of it for me. We can't even make beer anymore with out help. What the heck has happened to this country?

 

[2manyrocks]

I believe MossRoad hit the nail on the head in terms of the market appeal of the vehicle. If we assume a limited number of people bought them largely for "ego" reasons instead of functionality, how many "ego" buyers are there going to be once they are made in China? If the Chinese also started making Cadillacs, what would it do to the Cadillac brand?

 

[Scooby074]

My thoughts are that the Chinese dont necessarily want Hummer just for the vehicles. The company that wants to buy hummer also makes heavy equipment.

So if you were that company and trying to launch into the European or North American market, being able to use a brand like Hummer on your equipment would be invaluable.

Think of the brand recognition that a Hummer excavator or tractor would have in the English speaking world. The image that goes with the name is what theyre buying.

 

[Cat_Driver]

I just have to shake my head every time I hear about another American company going down the drain.

Everyone is having everything made off shore YET they want the biggest market to still buy their product.

Like you said Bubweiser, Hershey, Hummer, Levis Jeans, oh and there's these:

3Com
3M

A
Accenture
Adaptec
ADC
Adobe Systems
Advanced Energy Industries
Aetna
Affiliated Computer Services
A.G. Edwards
Agere Systems
Agilent Tech.
AIG
Alamo Rent A Car
Albertson's
Allen Systems Group
Alliance Semiconductor
Allstate
Alpha Thought Global
Amazon.com
AMD
American Express
American Household
American Management Systems
American Standard
Amphenol Corp.
Analog Devices
Andrew Corp.
Anheuser-Busch
AOL
Apple
Applied Materials
A.T. Cross Company
AT&T
AT&T Wireless
A.T. Kearney
Automatic Data Processing
Avanade
Avery Dennison

B
Bank of America
Bank of New York
Bank One
BearingPoint
Bear Stearns
Bechtel
BellSouth
Best Buy
Black & Decker
BMC Software
Boeing
Brocade
Bumble Bee

C
Cadence Design Systems
Capital One
Carrier
Cendant
Cerner Corporation
Charles Schwab
ChevronTexaco
CIBER
Ciena
Cigna
Circuit City, Inc.
Cisco Systems
Citigroup
CNA
Coca-Cola
Cognizant Technology Solutions
Columbia House
Comcast Holdings
Computer Associates
Computer Sciences Corporation
CompuServe
Continental Airlines
Convergys
Cooper Tire & Rubber
Cooper Tools
Countrywide Financial
COVAD Comm.
CSX
Cummins
Cypress Semiconductor

D
Dana Corporation
Delco Remy
Dell Computer
Delphi
Delta Air Lines
Direct TV
Discover
Document Sciences Corp.
Dow Chemical
Dun & Bradstreet
DuPont

E
Earthlink
Eastman Kodak
Eaton Corporation
EDS
Electroglas
Electronics for Imaging
Eli Lilly
EMC
Emerson Electric
En Pointe Technologies
Equifax
Ernst & Young
Ethan Allen
Evolving Systems
Expedia
ExxonMobil

F
Fair Isaac
Fedders Corporation
Federated Dept. Stores
Fidelity Investments
Financial Techologies International
First American Title Ins.
First Data
Fluor
Ford Motor
Franklin Mint
Franklin Templeton
Freeborders
Fruit of the Loom

G
Gateway
GE Capital
General Electric
General Motors
GlobespanVirata
Goldman Sachs
Goodrich
Google
Greenpoint Mortgage
Guardian Life Insurance

H
The Hartford Financial Services Group
HealthAxis
Helen of Troy Corp.
Hewitt Associates
Hewlett-Packard
The Holmes Group
Honeywell
HSN
Humana

I
IBM
iGate Corporation
IndyMac Bancorp
Infogain
Innodata Isogen
Innova Solutions
Intel
Intl. Paper
Intuit
Invacare
ITT Educational Services

J
Jabil Circuit
Jacobs Engineering
Jacuzzi
JDS Uniphase
Johnson Controls
Johnson & Johnson
JPMorgan Chase
Juniper Networks

K
KANA Software
Kaiser Permanente
Keane
KeyCorp
KLA-Tencor
Kraft Foods
Kulicke and Soffa Industries
Kwikset

L
Lawson Software
Lehman Brothers
Levi Strauss
Lexmark International
Lifescan
Lillian Vernon
Linksys
Lionbridge Technologies
LiveBridge
Lockheed Martin
Lowe's
Lucent

M
Maritz
Marshall Fields
Mattel
Maytag
McDATA Corporation
McKinsey & CO
Medtronic
Mellon Bank
Merrill Corporation
Merrill Lynch
Metasolv
MetLife
Microsoft
Monsanto
Morgan Stanley
Motorola

N
Nabco
National City Corporation
National Life
National Semiconductor
NCR Corporation
neoIT
NETGEAR
Network Associates
Newell Rubbermaid
New York Life Insurance Co.
Northwest Airlines

O
Office Depot
Ohio Art
ON Semiconductor
Oracle
OshKosh B'Gosh
Otis Elevator Co.
Outsource Partners International
Owens Corning

P
palmOne
Parker-Hannifin
Parsons E&C
Pearson Digital Learning
Pericom Semiconductor
Perot Systems
Pfizer
Pitney Bowes
Planar Systems
Portal Software
Pratt & Whitney
Primus Telecom
Procter & Gamble
ProQuest
Providian Financial
Prudential Insurance

Q
Quark
Qwest Comm.

R
Rainbow Technologies
Radio Shack
Rawlings Sporting Goods
Raytheon Aircraft
RCG Information Technology
Regence Group
Rogers
Rohm & Haas
RR Donnelley & Sons
Russell Corporation

S
Sabre
SAIC
Sallie Mae
Sanmina-SCI
SBC Comm.
SEI Investments
Siebel Systems
Sikorsky
SMC Networks
Solectron
Sovereign Bancorp
Sprint
Sprint PCS
Stanley Furniture
Stanley Works
Starkist Seafood
State Farm Insurance
State Street
StorageTek
StrategicPoint Investment Advisors
Sun Microsystems
SunTrust Banks
Supra Telecom
SurePrep
The Sutherland Group
Sykes Enterprises
Symbol Technologies
Synygy

T
Target
Tecumseh
Telcordia
Teleflex
TeleTech
Tellabs
Teradyne
Texas Inst.
Textron
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Time Warner
Tower Automotive
Toys "R" Us
Trans Union
Travelocity
Triquint Semiconductor
Tropical Sportswear
TRW Automotive
Tyco Electronics
Tyco Intl.

U
Union Pacific Railroad
Unisys
UnitedHealth Group Inc.
United Online
United Tech.
USAA

V
Valence Technology
VA Software
Veritas
Verizon
VF Corporation
Vishay

W
Wachovia Bank
Washington Group Intl.
Washington Mutual
WellChoice
Werner Co.
West Corporation
Weyerhaeuser
Whirlpool
Wolverine World Wide
WorldCom
Wyeth

X
Xpitax

Y
Yahoo!

 

[toy]

When the USA sold Budweiser and my Clydesdales we hit rock bottom. That was the end of it for me. We can't even make beer anymore with out help. What the heck has happened to this country?

Before I give my opinion on what has happened to our country I would like to thank cat driver for making a list of some of the companies that have moved their manufacturing out of this country, but that is just a partial listing I feel it is much larger than that. What has happened to our country the workers in these foreign countries work for far less than the USA workers do but when they buy anything they can buy it according to the cost of living in that country, that is how our country used to be run, but now these foreign country workers are running their factories at full capacity which in turn makes the cost of producing their product go even farther down. There is a society of people in our country that are in my opinion either stupid or they are committing treason in tenor even if it don't fit the current law that we have because they are looking at a market where the cost of living is very high, that is because the standard of living is high the wages are high and they are not looking at what the end result of what they are doing is going to be. They realize that they can get the product produced over seas for a fraction of the cost considering that there are no enviornmental restrictions no worker safety standards to meet and the wages are low. When they get these products and bring them over here they can undercut the prices of our goods and then we have lay offs at our factories which cause the cost of production to go up because the factory isn't producing at full capacity and they are then higher costs for that factory, our factories have to meet governmental guidelines for safety in the work place environmental restrictions and a higher wage structure according to the cost of living here. When the cost of products made in the USA go up then these in my opinion traitors can raise the price of their imported product. I am not faulting the foreign workers they are people just like we are trying to support their family. But as our manufacturing capabilities shrink the manufacturing capabilities of our competitors increase. We are retreating out of the industrialized market and out of the high tech market. Some of the skilled jobs that used to be done in our country the workers that used to do them are getting old and retiring or unfortunately dieing off and there is no one teaching our young people to do their jobs. As advancements are made with less and less in put from our people our nation becomes closer and closer to the point of no return. If we don't soon quite looking at someone's salary that we think is too high and start looking at the real problem we are headed for a calamity. Let me tell you something about that man that is earning $70,000 a year doing a job that you don't think he ought to be making, he has to buy a house in the market where he is working and making that much money, and he has living expenses also according to that market. Some have said that college graduates should make more than a skilled worker that has also learned and honed his skills all his life also in on the job problem solving, as well as self training and has capabilities of doing anything the company needs done, I don't think his pay should be any less than a college graduate. If you look at the ones that have been making all these head busting decisions that have driven our country down the tubes I would say that 90% or more have a college degree, so I don't think they should be making 400 times what the average worker at their company is making. But that is not all we should be looking at, businesses should be run as businesses but governments should be ran as a government and not as a business and I think that has been the biggest cause of this delima that we find ourselves in now. And back to businesses having ceo's that have no idea about the company he is running, about the nuts and bolts of it, and they have no real passion for their product and no real loyalty to it, they are more interested in their own ego than the company seems to me like he is a poor prospect for a ceo. I think that a ceo should have a real background in the business from the ground up and a passion for it. If grand pa worked there and told his stories and dad worked there and had shared his experiences and Junior worked there some as he went to college and learned his own experiences and was promoted on up that makes more sense than what is going on now. And speaking of colleges I think from what we have seen from the ivy league colleges recently I think maybe we ought to give some of the kids a chance that had to go to community colleges and maybe later expanded their education at a quality university, because the ivy leagers of late are more like a mascot than a real contender.