verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message am general llc type llc industry vehicles automotive military predecessor kaiser jeep founded 1903 ; 113 years ago 1903 headquarters south bend st. joseph indiana united states area served worldwide key people r. andrew hove ceo and president 1 products hmmwv hummer h2 m35 and 5 ton trucks humvee c series mercedes r class owner macandrews & forbes renco group subsidiaries general engine products general transmission products website www.amgeneral.com am general is an american heavy vehicle manufacturer based in south bend indiana . it is best known for the civilian hummer and the military humvee that is assembled in mishawaka indiana . 2 for a relatively brief period 1974 1979 the company also manufactured transit buses making more than 5 400 . 3 contents 1 corporate history 2 buses 2.1 articulated buses 2.2 trolleybuses 3 development and production of the hmmwv 4 other military vehicles 5 references 6 external links corporate history edit am general traces its roots to the standard wheel company of terre haute indiana which expanded in 1903 to include the overland automotive division . 4 in 1908 john north willys purchased the overland company then based in indianapolis indiana and renamed it willys overland motors inc. in the 1940s willys overland developed a vehicle to u.s. army s requirements and later mass produced america s first four wheel drive one fourth ton tactical utility truck the jeep of world war ii fame . 4 in 1953 kaiser motors purchased willys overland and changed the name to kaiser willys motor company . in 1963 the company s name changed again to kaiser jeep corporation . in 1964 kaiser jeep purchased the studebaker facilities in south bend indiana and formed the defense and government products division in 1967 which after american motors purchased kaiser jeep became what is now am general . 4 1975 am general rhd postal delivery van am general s roots and its location in south bend also lie with the general products division of studebaker which along with its substantial defense contracts was acquired by kaiser industries in early 1964 after studebaker closed its u.s. auto manufacturing operations . at the time kaiser had been awarded a us 87 million army truck contract and under government pressure agreed to perform the work at the south bend plant it had recently acquired from studebaker . subsequently american motors corporation amc purchased the jeep corporation from kaiser in 1970 when kaiser itself decided to leave the auto business . 5 in 1971 amc made the general products division of jeep producing military trucks as well as contract and non commercial vehicles a wholly owned subsidiary and renamed it am general corporation . 6 am general produced buses large trucks and jeeps for industrial military and government use . in the late 1970s it developed the high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle hmmwv nicknamed humvee for military use as a heavy duty replacement for the jeep . the vehicle later became available in a civilian version sold under the hummer brand name . another familiar product from the am general line was the jeep dj 5 series a purpose built dispatch jeep 2 wheel drive rwd version of the jeep cj 5 used in huge numbers as a right hand drive mail delivery vehicle by the united states postal service . production of buses lasted only from 1974 until 1979 . 3 american motors ended its history as an independent automaker in 1982 when controlling interest in the company was purchased by france s renault . 7 u.s. government regulations at that time forbade ownership of defense contractors by foreign governments and renault was partially owned by the french government . 8 therefore in 1983 am general was sold by amc to the ltv corporation and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of the ltv aerospace and defense company . as a result am general remained an independent company after amc was purchased by chrysler corporation . renco group bought the company in 1992 . am general which remains an independent company and government and military contractor sold the rights to the hummer brand to general motors in 1999 . it continued production of the original civilian hummer dubbed by gm as the h1 until june 2006 when it ceased production . 9 am general built a separate factory to build a new hummer h2 designed by and marketed by general motors . the vehicle went on the market in 2002 and was produced under contract to gm until january 2009 . am general did not build the hummer h3 and the firm is not part of general motors corporation . gm was sued early in 2003 by daimlerchrysler owners of the jeep brand for the hummer s seven slot grille which resembled the design daimlerchrysler argued consumers associated with jeep vehicles . 10 the lawsuit was dismissed due to the past corporate history involving amc and jeep . on august 20 2004 it was announced that ronald perelman s macandrews & forbes company would form a joint venture with am general s current owner renco group to give perelman 70 % ownership of am general . the deal reportedly cost close to us 1 billion 11 in 2008 am general and the vehicle production group vpg of troy michigan announced that contracts had been signed for am general to begin producing purpose built taxi cabs beginning in 2009 . 12 actual production began in october 2011 . the first vehicle off the line was presented to marc buoniconti a former linebacker for the citadel who was injured playing football in 1985 . 13 in may 2010 azure dynamics corp. announced it had chosen am general to assemble its electric drivetrain into ford transit connect vehicles for the north american market . 14 this product is being produced at am general s facility in livonia michigan . september 2013 am general reached an agreement to purchase the united states department of energy s doe secured loan to the vehicle production group vpg . prior to this am general acted as sole vehicle assembler for vpg . as a result of this transaction am general created a wholly owned company mobility ventures llc to operate the mobility vehicle 1 mv 1 business and receive all vpg assets . 15 buses edit a 1976 am general bus of tri met in portland oregon showing am general logo on front am general manufactured buses for city transit use from 1974 until 1979 producing a total of 5 431 buses including 219 electric trolley buses . 3 this originated with a 1971 agreement with flyer industries of winnipeg canada under which am general would build and market buses to flyer s designs in the united states . however before starting production amg redesigned the front end of flyer s then current model and thus the resulting product was not simply a flyer design built under license but rather a jointly designed vehicle . flyer adopted the design changes for its own production for its models d800 and e800 . 3 buses were built in lengths of either 35 ft 10.7 m or 40 ft 12.2 m and widths of 96 in 2 438 mm or 102 in 2 591 mm . the model numbers were simple an example being model 10240 which indicated a 102 inch wide 40 foot long bus . suffixes a or b were used for later models to indicate certain options . in total 3 571 40 foot diesel buses and 1 641 35 foot diesel buses were produced . 3 articulated buses edit an man articulated bus in seattle that was completed by am general in 1977 1979 am general also worked under a partnership with man of germany to build articulated buses for u.s. transit systems . man fabricated the bodyshells in germany and shipped them to the us where am general completed the buses and was the primary contractor with the buyers . 16 two different lengths were offered 55 ft 16.8 m and 60 ft 18.3 m ; 93 buses were built to the shorter length and all others were 60 feet long . by october 1978 16 the company had decided to discontinue its bus production and the last man articulated bus completed by am general was finished in march 1979 . 3 the total number built was just under 400 392 16 or 399 3 the largest group by far being 150 for seattle s metro transit . 3 man subsequently set up its own factory for u.s. production of its articulated buses in the small town of cleveland north carolina . 3 trolleybuses edit production of complete motor buses and of any two axle motor buses had ended in 1978 and aside from the fitting out of the last articulated man shells the only production in 1979 was that of two batches of trolleybuses and the only such vehicles ever built by the company . 17 these were all 40 foot 12.2 m vehicles model 10240t 110 for the philadelphia trolleybus system operated by septa and 109 for the seattle trolleybus system operated by metro transit now king county metro . one of the latter has been preserved following its retirement in 2003 by king county metro see king county metro fleet . development and production of the hmmwv edit am general hmmwv in iraq in 1979 am general began preliminary design work on the m998 series high mobility multi purpose wheeled vehicle hmmwv pronounced humvee ; a 1.25 ton truck intended to replace the m151 and other light utility vehicles . the u.s. army awarded am general a prototype contract in 1981 and the development and operational testing was conducted over a five month period in 1982 . in march 1983 am general won an initial 1.2 billion contract to produce 55 000 humvees to be delivered in five basic models and 15 different configurations over a five year period . in 1983 the ltv corporation bought am general from american motors corporation and established it as a wholly owned subsidiary of the ltv aerospace and defense company . in 1984 the am general headquarters moved from the american motors amtek building in detroit michigan to livonia michigan and two years later to south bend indiana where the primary manufacturing operations were located . production began at the mishawaka indiana assembly plant in the fall of 1984 and the first deliveries were made in early 1985 . the total production by mid 1991 was more than 72 000 vehicles including international sales . in 1992 ltv sold am general to the renco group inc. who in 2002 converted it to a limited liability company . by march 1995 about 100 000 hmmwvs had been built . since 1991 an additional 20 000 hmmwvs were ordered by governments . late in 2000 am general was awarded another production contract for 2 962 trucks in the m998a2 series . the contract contained six single year options running to fiscal year 2007 . this contract was extended . to date nearly 250 000 units have been produced . humvees feature full time four wheel drive independent suspension steep approach and departure angles 60 percent gradeability and 16 inches 406 mm of ground clearance . most recent production models included the m1151 m1152 m1165 and m1167 . as of 2015 humvees are in use by the u.s. army marine corps air force and navy . the combined fleet is about 140 000 humvees . 18 more than 50 friendly foreign nations also have humvees . the humvee s replacement a completely new joint light tactical vehicle jltv design will be produced by oshkosh corporation with the first deliveries to the u.s. army expected in 2016 . 18 am general competed in