Things are rapidly changing within the global motoring industry. Hardly a day goes by now without news breaking about a sale or buyout. Today both GM and Chrysler had announcements to make.
General Motors has announced the sale of its premium off-road brand, Hummer, but no details about the buyer have been released. This announcement comes after the American automaker filed for bankruptcy on Monday.
It is believed that as a result of this transaction, all production of the off-roader is set to be consolidated into a single location at Shreveport in the United States. According to GMSA “South Africa will import H3 products from the newly formed Hummer entity and will distribute these vehicles through (its) premium dealerships in South Africa”.
GMSA stresses that “Hummer customers can continue to enjoy the peace of mind motoring they currently receive, backed by leading levels of service and (its) ongoing commitment to honouring all warranty agreements”.
It was also announced today that the newly formed Chrysler Group LLC – a result of the alliance with Fiat SpA – will buy substantially all of Chrysler LLC’s operations. Chrysler LLC is the parent company of Chrysler South Africa (Pty) Ltd. Chrysler South Africa, as well as other international operations such as Mexico and Canada will also be acquired by Chrysler Group.
According to statement released by Chrysler SA, “These and other important steps taken over the past month will position Chrysler Group to provide customers and dealers with the high quality vehicles and service they expect, and enable the new company to become a strong competitor. Many of Chrysler’s stakeholders have worked expeditiously together to launch Chrysler Group, which will move quickly to realise the benefits of the alliance”.
The newly formed company is certain that the new alliance will provide Chrysler with access to different vehicles that will compliment the company’s current portfolio, and apparently “…work with Fiat is already well underway to develop the next generation of environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient high-quality vehicles”.