Recent reports claim that Hummer is being courted by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska and Indian automaker Mahindra and Mahindra. Both parties, however, deny any interest in the ailing brand.
With the U.S. auto market facing record lows, no one was surprised when General Motors (GM) announced it was reassessing its Hummer brand last June. According to Truck Trend, "Hummer sales are down about 40% this year." No doubt that record gas prices are to blame.
Other markets, however, aren't facing such high gas prices. Business Week explains, "While Hummer sales have declined precipitously in the U.S., sales and interest is holding up abroad, especially in Eastern European and Middle Eastern countries where gasoline is much cheaper and in some cases subsidized by the government."
So while it makes sense that Russian and Indian parties are interested in purchasing the Hummer brand, it's just not true.
Late last week, Reuters claimed that Deripaska's Russian Machines won't be seizing the Hummer brand. A statement released by Russian Machines declared, "Russian Machines neither received any proposals to consider acquisition of the Hummer assets, nor is strategically interested in such a deal."
Similarly, Mahindra and Mahindra said yesterday that it's also not interested in acquiring Hummer. The Economic Times quotes M&M Vice Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra as saying, "I'd like to categorically state that we are not pursuing Hummer." Instead, the Indian automaker will focus on producing green vehicles.
With no takers, the future of Hummer remains in question. For now, at least, GM has employed Citibank to help determine the future of America's beloved Humvee.
Interested in buying an American-made Hummer while you still can? Check out our reviews of the H2, H2 SUT, and H3.
