General Motors to end sales of Hummer after China deal falls through
Wed 24 February 2010
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General Motors will wind down operations of its Hummer division after a deal to sell it to a Chinese industrial company - Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. Ltd. - fell through.
Hummer sales had fallen under pressure from rising petrol prices and environmental attacks on the various models which were viewed as amongst the worst of the 'gas guzzlers'.
Cheap petrol propelled Hummer to prominence in the last decade after GM bought the rights to make a commercial version of the military Humvee, which was used during the first Gulf War in the early 1990s.
However, when petrol rose to more than $4 (U.S.) a gallon in the United States and about $1.40 (Canadian) a litre in Canada in 2008, Hummers became a target of environmentalists and other activists.
John Bennett, Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada said: “It reaffirms my faith in the common sense of the general public.
"Its only purpose was vanity, and even drivers who were vain enough in the past to support the brand are no longer interested enough to keep it going", he added.
But the vehicles were unfairly maligned, countered Joe Cormier of Sturgeon Falls, Ontario - reported in Canada's Globe and Mail - who owns two radio stations and four Hummers.
"Many of the people on these tours are disabled and would not otherwise be able to commune with nature", Mr. Cormier said. “It's just a nice big truck...They're not any worse than a tractor bringing people on a hay ride.”
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