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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.

2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV revealed, priced the same as the truck

Following up on the 2024 GMC Hummer EV pickup truck's big reveal back in October is the SUV variant. And it looks pretty much the way you would expect. From roughly the doors forward, it's the same as the blocky pickup. But the back half now has an enclosed cargo area, a full-door tailgate and full-size spare mounted to it. Besides the tweaked looks, the SUV is physically shorter. The full dimensions haven't been revealed yet, but the wheelbase is 8.9 inches shorter than the truck at 126.7 inches total. The overall length is likely reduced even further, since the tail is much shorter than the truck's with the rear wheels close to the bumper. Both of these changes will greatly improve breakover and departure angles, plus make the vehicle generally more maneuverable on and off road. GMC boasts that with four-wheel-steering, the turning circle is just 35.4 feet, about a foot and a half tighter than the truck. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Powertrains are identical to that of the truck. The EV2 and EV2X get two motors making 625 horsepower. Higher EV3X and Edition 1 trims have three motors making 830 horsepower. Electric range varies between about 250 miles to 300 miles depending on specification. Extremely fast 800-volt, 300-kW DC fast charging is available and included on all but the base trim level. An Extreme Off-Road Package is available on EV2X and above that adds 18-inch wheels with 35-inch mud-terrain tires. You'll also be able to get the ground-clearance-increasing air suspension and four-wheel steering with the famous Crab Mode. Super Cruise will be standard on every GMC Hummer EV. Pricing and trim levels are nearly identical to the pickup truck, with only the Edition 1 varying. The base model starts at $79,995, and each trim and price is listed below. Prices are listed without the destination charge because that figure has not been revealed yet. EV2: $79,995 EV2X: $89,995 EV3X: $99,995 Edition 1: $105,595 ($110,595 with Extreme Off-Road Package) The Edition 1 SUVs will be available first with sales starting early next year. The EV2X and EV3X will go on sale that spring, and the base EV2 trims will go on sale in spring 2024. GMC is taking reservations now, and they can be made at this link. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

GM to accelerate its EV strategy — Cadillac could be all-electric by 2025

General Motors will roll out details of an expanded and accelerated electric vehicle strategy on Thursday in an effort to convince investors it can be a serious competitor to Tesla, people familiar with the plans said. GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, who is scheduled to speak at a conference hosted by Barclays, is expected to say the automaker is ready to spend more on electric models by 2025 than the $20 billion previously outlined, the sources said. Supplier sources said previous plans to make the Cadillac brand all-electric by 2030 are being sped up, possibly to 2025, and other sources said that acceleration will be repeated in other brands and in segments such as commercial vans. Asked about the Thursday appearance, a GM spokeswoman called talk of increased spending speculative and declined to give details. The Detroit automaker is also expected to discuss a new timeline for many of the EVs to follow those already identified, such as the GMC Hummer EV pickup and Cadillac Lyriq crossover, people familiar with the plans said. Lyriq (shown above) is slated to go into production in late 2022, but GM officials have been stung by criticism the automaker was bringing the vehicle to market too late, one source said. "The pull-ahead in programs is real and the organization is really doubling down on speeding up product development," the source said. Barra and other GM executives have been signaling the automaker's EV acceleration plans. She said earlier this month GM would boost capital spending over the next three years to speed EV development and was talking with other automakers about partnerships to develop more vehicles using GM's battery technology. Last week, a GM executive said the company had pulled forward the rollout of two "major" EV programs, and GM officials have touted the faster 18-month development time for the Hummer truck. Tesla's soaring market capitalization, and growing pressure from regulators to phase out carbon-emitting engines, has put pressure on established automakers to respond to investors who view their internal combustion lineups as outmoded and doomed in the long run. A critical part of GM's pitch to investors has been its new Ultium batteries, which it estimates will offer an electric driving range of 400 miles or more on a single charge. It is building a battery plant with Korean battery maker LG Chem in northeast Ohio.