for the hummer h1 see hummer h1 . for the military vehicle see humvee . for other uses see hummer disambiguation . hummer hummer h3 former type division industry automotive founded 1992 defunct may 24 2010 headquarters detroit michigan u.s. products sport utility vehicles pickup trucks owner general motors website www.hummer.com hummer was a brand of trucks and suvs first marketed in 1992 when am general began selling a civilian version of the m998 humvee . in 1998 general motors gm purchased the brand name and marketed three vehicles the original hummer h1 based on the military humvee as well as the h2 and h3 models that were based on smaller civilian market gm platforms . by 2008 hummer s viability in the economic downturn was being questioned and it was placed under review by gm management . rather than being transferred to motors liquidation company as part of the gm bankruptcy in 2009 the brand was retained by gm in order to investigate its sale . in 2009 a chinese manufacturer sichuan tengzhong heavy industrial machinery company announced that it would acquire hummer pending government approvals but later withdrew its bid . 1 on february 24 2010 reuters reported that the chinese ministry of commerce had prevented the deal 2 although a ministry spokesperson denied rejecting the application which had been stalled for eight months . 3 at the end of february general motors announced it would begin dismantling the hummer brand . 4 although the automaker announced two days later that it had been approached with new offers 5 by april 2010 any sale became unlikely as inventory was depleted and hummer dealerships began shutting down . 6 after filling a rental car fleet order the last hummer h3 rolled off the line at shreveport on may 24 2010 . 7 the original maker of hummer am general lost their bid to build the hmmwv s replacement for the u.s. military in 2015 . contents 1 history 1.1 origin 1.2 gm purchase 1.3 failed sale 2 models 2.1 hummer h1 2.2 hummer h2 2.3 hummer h3 3 concept vehicles 3.1 hummer hx 3.2 plug in hybrid 4 racing 5 production 6 criticisms 7 licensing 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit origin edit the original hummers were first designed by am general corporation a wholly owned subsidiary american motors corporation amc and built in its mishawaka indiana assembly plant . 8 in 1979 the united states army was seeking contractors for a new high mobility multi purpose wheeled vehicle which could follow the tracks and ruts of full size army trucks hmmwv . 9 among the four competitors for the contract am general designed an entirely new vehicle to meet the army s requirements . 9 in less than one year it was the first to deliver a prototype vehicle . initial production versions were delivered to the army s proving grounds in april 1982 . 9 after testing was completed am general was awarded the contract to supply its hmmwv to the united states armed forces . the first models were built in a variety of military based equipment and versions . the first contract was in 1983 worth us 1.2 billion to produce 55 000 humvees by 1985 . 10 the first production vehicle was assembled by am general on january 2 1985 . 9 the contract was later increased for an additional 15 000 units . 9 am general had planned to sell a civilian version of the humvee as far back as the late 1980s . having the same structure and most mechanical components the civilian hummers were finished in automotive gloss paint adding passenger car enhancements such as air conditioning sound insulation upgraded upholstery stereo systems wood trim and convenience packages . 11 the civilian model began in part because of the persistence of arnold schwarzenegger who saw an army convoy while filming a movie . 12 in 1992 am general began selling a civilian version of the m998 humvee vehicle to the public under the brand name hummer . 10 from left hummer h3 h1 and h2 gm purchase edit in december 1999 am general sold the brand name to general motors but continued to manufacture the vehicles . 10 gm was responsible for the marketing and distribution of all hummers produced by am general . shortly thereafter gm introduced two of its own design models the h2 and h3 and renamed the original vehicle h1 . am general continued to build the h1 until it was discontinued in 2006 13 and was contracted by gm to produce the h2 . the h3 was built in shreveport la alongside the chevrolet colorado and gmc canyon pickups with which it shared the gmt 355 platform modified and designated gmt 345 . hummer dealership buildings featured an oversized half quonset hut style roof themed to the hummer brand s military origins . 14 by 2006 the hummer began to be exported and sold through importers and distributors in 33 countries . 15 on october 10 2006 gm began producing the hummer h3 at its port elizabeth plant in south africa for international markets . 15 the hummers built there at first were only left hand drive but right hand drive versions were added and exported to australia and other markets . the h2 was also assembled in kaliningrad russia by avtotor starting in 2006 and ending in 2009 . 16 the plant produced a few hundred vehicles annually and its output was limited to local consumption with five dealers in russia . on june 3 2008 one day prior to gm s annual shareholder meeting rick wagoner gm s ceo at that time said the brand was being reviewed and had the possibility of either being sold having the production line completely redesigned or being discontinued . 17 this was due to the decreasing demand for large suvs as a result of higher oil prices . almost immediately after the announcement a pair of indian automakers including mahindra & mahindra expressed interest in purchasing all or part of hummer . 18 in april 2009 gm president fritz henderson stated several interested parties had approached gm regarding the hummer business . 19 failed sale edit on june 1 2009 as a part of the general motors bankruptcy announcement the company revealed that the hummer brand would be discontinued . however the following day gm announced that instead it had reached a deal to sell the brand to an undisclosed buyer . 20 after gm announced that same day that the sale was to an undisclosed chinese company 21 cnn and the new york times identified the buyer of the hummer truck unit as china based sichuan tengzhong heavy industrial machinery company ltd. 20 22 23 later that day sichuan tengzhong itself announced the deal on their own website . on january 6 2010 gm ceo ed whitacre said he hoped to close the deal with tengzhong by the end of that month . 24 on february 1 2010 it was announced that sichuan and general motors had agreed to extend the deadline until the end of february as sichuan tried to get approval by the chinese government . 25 it was also revealed that the price tag of the hummer brand was 150 million . 26 later on february 24 2010 gm announced the tengzhong deal had collapsed and the hummer brand would soon shut down . 27 there were reports that sichuan tengzhong might 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 . 28 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 . 29 the company announced it was willing to consider offers for all or part of the assets . american company raser technologies along with several others expressed interest in buying the company . however on april 7 2010 this attempt failed as well and general motors officially said it was shutting down the hummer suv brand and offering rich rebates in a bid to move the remaining 2 200 vehicles . 30 31 models edit hummer h1 hummer h2 hummer h3 hummer h1 edit main article hummer h1 the first vehicle in the hummer range was the hummer h1 based on the humvee . originally released in 1992 this vehicle was designed by american motors am general subsidiary for the u.s. military . five years previously amc had been bought by chrysler . hummer h2 edit main article hummer h2 the hummer h2 was the second vehicle in the hummer range . there were two variations the h2 suv and h2 sut . hummer h3 edit main article hummer h3 the h3 and h3t truck were the smallest of the hummer models and were based on the gmt355 platform shared with the chevrolet colorado and gmc canyon compact pickup trucks . concept vehicles edit hummer hx edit main article hummer hx the hummer hx was developed in 2008 as an open air two door off road concept car smaller than other hummer models . plug in hybrid edit raser technologies formerly of utah 32 was to use technology similar to that in the chevrolet volt . the company unveiled the prototype to the 2009 society of automotive engineers world congress in detroit . 33 the e rev extended range electric vehicle powertrain technology was claimed to power the vehicle for up to 40 miles 64 km on its battery and then a small 4 cylinder internal combustion engine would start to generate more electricity . 34 racing edit rod hall in the 2005 baja 1000 hummer modified into a limousine team hummer racing was created in 1993 . led by off road racer rod hall team hummer competed in the stock classes of both bitd and score with specialized racing shock absorbers tires and other modifications along with mandatory safety equipment . team hummer stock class h3 driven by hall finished first in class with the h3 in the 2005 baja 1000 . team hummer earned 11 production class wins at the baja 1000 . a highly modified two wheel drive hummer was raced by robby gordon in the 2006 did not finish 2007 8th place 2009 3rd place 2010 8th place 2011 did not finish 2012 disqualified and 2013 14th place dakar rally . production edit am general hummer h1 assembly plant mishawaka indiana 500 000 square foot plant 46 000 m2 opened 1984 to build hmmwv humvee and began production of the h1 in 1992 . production ceased 2006 . am general hummer h2 assembly plant mishawaka indiana 673 000 square foot plant 62 500 m2 opened 2002 . h2 production ended 2009 . general motors south africa struandale assembly plant port elizabeth eastern cape south africa built in 1996 expanded to 75 625 square meters 814 000 sq ft to build h3 models . h3 production ended 2009 . general motors shreveport operations shreveport louisiana in 2005 to accommodate the production of the h3 an additional 296 000 square feet 27 500 m2 was added to plant built by gm in 1981 . in july 2009 gm had shut down hummer production of the h3 but the automaker had a special fleet order from avis rent a car system . 35 avtotor kaliningrad russia licensed version of h2 starting from 2006 and production ended in 2009 . criticisms edit criticism of hummers mirrors the criticism of suvs in general but to a higher degree . specific criticisms of hummers include size hummers specifically the h1 and h2 are significantly bigger than other suvs