General Motors is “winding down” its Hummer brand and has around 400 vehicles left to clear from its inventory in the Middle East, leading executives from the carmaker told journalists at a roundtable meeting in Dubai on Sunday.
“We are winding down all our Hummer operations worldwide,” confirmed Tim Lee, GM executive vice president and president of GM international operations. Lee is on his first tour of the region following his appointment in December 2009.
“We have inventory that we intend to sell. They are great products but the brand itself is on the shelf and we are not producing Hummer today in the company,” he added, but would not be drawn on whether or not GM was in talks to sell the brand.
Mike Devereux, the outgoing managing director of GM Middle East operations, said that, based on sales records, there are approximately 300 to 400 Hummers left in the Middle East and only around 50 to 100 currently available for sale in the UAE.
John Stadwick, Devereux’s successor, added that GM would continue to provide all Hummer owners in the Middle East with parts and service for the lifecycle of their vehicles.
Earlier this year, Chinese regulators blocked Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company’s purchase of the Hummer brand.
GM began selling Hummer in 1999 with the $140,000 H1 SUV, which was followed up by the H2 in 2002 and the H3 in 2005.
Hummer joins the Pontiac and Saturn brands, which have also been shelved by the US carmaker.
