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Humvee maker AM General reportedly for sale, with interest from FCA, GM

WASHINGTON — AM General has put itself up for sale and has hired investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd to seek potential bidders in a deal that could value the builder of Humvee military vehicles at more than $2 billion, people familiar with the matter said this week. Potential bidders include competitors in the military ground vehicle market, such as General Dynamics, Oshkosh Corp and BAE Systems, according to two people familiar with the matter. Automakers like Fiat Chrysler and General Motors may also be potential buyers. GM licensed Hummer from AM General in 1998 to build civilian SUVs. None of the companies would comment or reply to a request for comment. The South Bend, Indiana-based AM General is currently owned by private equity firms. A possible sale of AM General follows a rash of deals over the past 18 months among defense contractors. But relatively fewer makers of defense equipment have gone on the auction block. Last year, United Technologies acquired Rockwell Collins for $30 billion, and in March, TransDigm Group continued its acquisition spree with a $525 million deal for Extant Components Group. AM General could fetch about 10 times its annual earnings of $160 million, one of the people said. The company's favorable tax treatment because of its current status as an limited liability corporation, would allow a buyer to reduce the company's taxable earnings for 15 years. That coupled with recent contract awards could push the ultimate value of the company to over $2 billion in a sale. The sale, should it happen, comes as the U.S. Army is gearing up for a broad effort to modernize its forces, including seeking prototypes of its Next-Generation Combat Vehicle in fiscal year 2022. Last month, AM General was awarded an Army contract for as many as 2,800 new M997A3 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) ambulances. The contract could be worth as much as $800 million if all options were exercised, AM General said at the time. Last year, the Pentagon awarded AM General a $550 million contract to deliver HMMWVs for use as protected weapons carriers, cargo transporters and ambulances to Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Jordan, Slovenia, Bahrain, Columbia, Bosnia and Kenya as a part of a larger Foreign Military Sales agreement. The sale of AM General offers an opportunity to purchase a prime contractor that delivers a finished product to the Pentagon, and not just an add-on system or service.

The electric Hummer gets a new logo

GM submitted three trademark applications to government offices here and in Canada, as discovered by GM Authority. Two applications went to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office on February 4 this year, seeking to reserve the new Hummer logo, at the top in the image above. Note, the two logos aren't to scale; they're about the same size all things being equal, but we shrunk the old mark. GM sent a second application to the USPTO on February 7 requesting the brand name "Hummer" for application to "motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles, trucks and sport utility vehicles; bicycles." True, we've seen the new Hummer script stretched across the front of the coming electric pickup in a teaser clip, but the paperwork continues the process of getting the entire continent ready for the alternate universe resurrection of one of America's most notorious brands.     In 2010, gas prices were in orbit, GM committed to closing the Hummer brand, vandals were setting fire to the scattered Hummers left on dealer lots, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 made 638 horsepower, the eco-minded revered the Toyota Prius and the Tesla Model S was still two years away. In that year, it would have been hard to say something more bonkers than, "Hummer's coming back in ten years as an electric pickup, its top trim making 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 pound-feet of torque." But here we are. The new logo's squareness connects it to the resolute bluntness of the old mark, yet the thinner font and chopped corners both modernize the old logo and lessen its truculence. The brand appears headed the same way, with lurid specs and square-jawed looks just like old times, but having in LeBron James a more modern take on the hardcore male vibe than it once got from (unpaid) association with guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger. To be fair, old Hummer commercials always featured women in the driver's seat, or men and young boys dreaming of big adventures, or Regis Philbin chatting up models, but the marketing department couldn't — or didn't want to — outrun the lineup's reputation on the street. We'll see how the electric version and its “incredible on- and off-road capability" fare. According to the teaser site, the new Hummer's debut is still on track for May 20. If the brand manages to recreate the old H3T pickup but with an electric powertrain, it's got one buyer right here lined up already. Related Video:

GMC Hummer EV hits Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog for twice the price

This winter season, Nieman Marcus is getting into the true meaning of Christmas by offering a bunch of seriously expensive stuff in its annual holiday catalog. There's usually at least one automotive offering, and this year it's a 2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 for an eye-watering $285,000. That's $172,405 more than the regular Edition 1 crab-walker, which is priced by GMC at $112,595. And what does one get for more than 2.5 times the cost of the most expensive electric Hummer? Well, hold your 1,000 horses, because this isn't just any Hummer EV Edition 1. No, it's a one-off Barrett-Jackson Hummer EV Edition 1. The interior of this Barrett-Jackson edition Hummer has been "curated" by Craig Jackson himself. And by curated, they mean it has a bunch of red trim everywhere and is garnished with a Neiman Marcus logo. Aside from that, there is nothing appreciably different about it. No performance upgrades, no special paint job. You do get an electric charging station at home, though, which might be the most useful addition to this whole enterprise. If that's not worth the price of an entire 1.5 extra Hummers to you, there's more. You get two VIP passes for the opening gala of the Barrett-Jackson auctions in exotic Scottsdale, Ariz. During the auction, you'll get access for two to Carolyn and Craig Jackson's personal skybox from where you can watch 1,500 cars trade hands. But don't get too comfy, because at some point you'll be invited on stage to receive your Hummer EV in front of a gaggle of inebriated fishing boat dealership owners. Oh, and you'll also get to bang the little auction hammer. You can pair the Hummer with other gifts in Nieman Marcus' "fantasy" catalog, like a $6.1 million dollar diamond ring. However, if you go with the $395,000 Great Gatsby-style roaring '20s party, make sure it doesn't end with the 9,000-pound Hummer Daisy Buchanan-ing any bystanders. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.