Late last month we told you that GM was in talks with Tengzhong to finally sell off the dying HUMMER brand. Well, today, reports have surfaced that say the deal is officially going down for $150 million.

This wad of cash will net Tengzhong 80% of HUMMER whos vehicles will still be built by GM through June 2011. The other 20% will be going to a private investor which means GM will finally be able to wipe their hands clean of the brand.

What’s really interesting though is the fact that HUMMER, an iconic American brand, is now a Chinese company. What will come from this? Only time will tell.

via autobloggreen

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Chrysler may be the worst off of all the big three–not only were they smaller going in than GM, and both were much worse off financially than Ford, but Chrysler is the one you don’t hear from.

But now, some fresh news has emerged that should surprise some people–Chrysler’s Dodge brand is now essentially two businesses  in one.  Both divisions are overseen by their own CEO, but one branch will focus exclusively on cars, the other on trucks.

On the surface this seems like a good idea.  Specialization allows a company to take advantage of economies of scale, though I’m not sure how good an idea it was to hire TWO CEOs, considering how big a drain on resources a chief executive officer can be.  Of course, as long as the board of directors keeps executive pay at an even keel, this may not be too bad a move.  Get the economies of scale without the huge CEO pay package?  I’ve heard worse myself, and from Fiat, that’s especially surprisingly lucid.

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It seems that Saturn’s days are numbered — Recent reports have let us know that Penske Automotive group has backed out of a deal with GM that would have effectively purchased the entire Saturn brand.

The reason for the backing out is because Penske fears they will not be able to provide the Saturn dealerships with inventory after GM stops supplying them with vehicles at the end of 2010. The deal said that they would have to find their own manufacturers to produce vehicles for the dealerships, something Penske doesn’t think they will be able to do.

So, in lieu of this deal falling through, GM has said they will be phasing out Saturn, closing all dealerships and directing current Saturn owners to other GM dealers for service. Goodbye Saturn, you shall be missed.

via autoblog

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