GM’s Hummer Unit a White Elephant?

News surfaced this weekend that General Motors, the embattled auto maker who is looking to pare down assets by selling off its gas guzzling Hummer unit was in talks with Oleg Deripaska, Russia’s richest man. He’s not the only one, Mahindra and Mahindra, an Indian auto maker along with a private equity group from Turkey have been sniffing around Detroit looking to pick up a used truck division on the cheap.

Just one itsy bitsy little thing….

Doesn’t Hummer still make the Humvee for the US military? Yes! AM General will be making and servicing the military version until 2009. Now, I realize we are not talking launch codes or missile defense shields, but I am sure there is a difference between the military Humvee and the civilian Hummer, and I am not just talking cup holders and ashtrays. I don’t know if most people remember or even realize that GM has a military contract to produce Humvees. If they did, would they then be upset to learn that the division might be sold off to a foreign company?

I would bet there was a phone call sometime this weekend to Rick Wagoner asking him to explain exactly what is being discussed by GM and Mr. Deripaska considering the frosty relations between Washington and Moscow these days. Let’s throw in for good measure how happy Pakistan would be if we sold Hummer to India, or how would the rest of the Middle East feel if Hummer was bought by a group from Turkey.

Unfortunately, GM is stuck with a white elephant. Too many political hurdles to get over with the current list of potential buyers. Would you be upset if a foreign company bought Hummer?