After the the brand has existed for months in sale-or-no-sale purgatory and seeing product demand fall to a quarter of capacity, GM's decided to halt production of all Hummer products until sale to its Chinese suitors is complete.
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.
According to Hummer PR Rep Nick Richards, inventories for Hummers nationwide are up to hundreds of days on hand after a run of 2010 models beginning in October. Sales have dropped due to a combination of zero ad budget, general consumers looking for more fuel efficient vehicles, a stigma of buying products with a tarnished image and an uncertain future. 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. The deal has been cleared by United States regulators but the Chinese agencies involved are taking their sweet time in completing their side of the process. Richards is confident a deal will be reached but was unable to provide a projected completion date.