The bidding war has started
Ever since General Motors told Reuters that there were two companies interested in buying Hummer the race has been on to figure out who it is.
Tata Motors recently purchased Jaguar and Landrover, and their PR group says, “As a policy, Tata Motors does not comment on such matters”, but most assume there would be no interest there.
Mahindra was asked if they were interested, “There has been a lot of speculation. I want to say categorically that we are not pursuing Hummer. We are pursuing our own model’s strategy and we do not want to tarnish our green warrior’s strategy.”
– Mr. Anand Mahindra, VC & MD, Mahindra Groups quote published in India s leading daily, The Times of India.
Rebecca Lindland, an analyst for Global Insight thinks “there is more brand equity than people think, and it would be global. If you look at LandRover and Hummer the miles per gallon are not that far off from each other, but the brand image of Hummer is not aligned like LandRover is.”
In the Reuters article General Motors Middle East Managing Director Terry Johnson said, “For sure, there has been interest from various parties within the Gulf … there is a precedent in the cases of Aston Martin, Ferrari or Daimler and those kinds of solutions could be very realistic solutions.”
Lindland thinks the Middle East is the place to look, and that it would be a consortium, not an auto company. Ford Motor Company has sold Aston Martin to a consortium led by Prodrive founder David Richards and a couple of international investment groups headquartered in Kuwait.
Either way, at least General Motors won’t be standing on the cobblestone street singing
Two blooms for a penny.
Who will buy my sweet red roses?
Two blooms for a penny.
