Speed Cars: Hummer H2

Hummer was a marque of trucks sold by General Motors. The HUMMER brand was not transferred to Motors Liquidation Company as part of the GM bankruptcy. Instead, this brand was retained by GM in order to investigate selling the brand. The original Hummer H1 was based on the military High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Humvee). However, the Hummer H2 and the Hummer H3 were based on other, smaller civilian-market vehicles.

Chinese automaker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company announced in 2009 that it would acquire the Hummer brand pending government approvals. However, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China rejected the deal on February 24, 2010, and GM has decided to retire the brand. There were reports that Sichuan Tengzhong may pursue the purchase of the Hummer brand from GM by purchasing it privately through the company's new J&A Tengzhong Fund SPC, a private equity investment fund owned by an offshore entity that was recruiting private investors to buy into its acquisition plan. The financial markets posed problems for established borrowers and even more for Tengzhong, a little-known company from western China, at the same time as the potential value of the Hummer brand continued to decline given high fuel prices and weak consumer demand.

History

Hummers were originally built by AM General Corporation, which was formerly AMC-Jeep's General Products division, in its Mishawaka, Indiana, assembly plant. They were created under a contract for the United States armed forces. The first model, the Hum-Vee, was built in a variety of military-based equipment and versions. The U.S. military, on receiving their quota, have adapted some of the vehicles, including modifications to facilitate a directional microwave crowd control beam (Active Denial System).

AM General had planned to sell a civilian version of the Hum-Vee as far back as the late 1980s.

In 1990, two matching white Hum-Vees were driven from London to Beijing over the rough roads of central Soviet Union. The Hummers made the trip with ease, for they were built to drive on off-road terrain. The highlights of this journey were broadcast in the United States on ESPN. This publicity would pale in comparison to the attention that the Hum-Vee received for its service in Operation: Desert Storm the following year. Also, a privately-owned Hum-Vee was modified into the first Snow-Vee, including the addition of caterpillar tracks, a new rear compartment and a new engine. This vehicle was designed for use in and just below the Arctic Circle, and the Antarctic.

In 1992, AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or Hum-Vee) vehicle to the public under the brand name "Hummer".