Hummer CEO: Tengzhong to give cash only

Hummer CEO Jim Taylor said yesterday that he expects Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. only to be an investor and not to get much involved in Hummer's daily management after the Hummer brand is sold to the Chinese company, sina.com said.

In an interview with the leading Chinese Internet portal, Taylor said Tengzhong knows much about the Chinese market while Hummer's executives know much about the Hummer's products, so Tengzhong doesn't need to operate the Hummer brand, or to worry about its own lack of auto-making experience -- it is expected to be an investor only.

The Hummer CEO illustrated his view with the case of Warrent Buffett investment in China's BYD Auto. The U.S. billionaire investor doesn't know how to do the auto business and he is only an investor. The right attitude should be to boost the confidence in the professional team and share the ever-growing benefit of the company, Taylor said.

Tengzhong CEO and general manager Yang Yi has responded positively to Taylor's statement, saying that if the Hummer deal is successful, Tengzhong will mainly rely on Hummer's existing management team for the brand's operations and will trust the team headed by Jim Taylor to develop the new Hummer better.
 
"All I need is cash," Taylor also told China Daily in a recent telephone interview, refusing to say how much the Chinese company is willing to pay for the Hummer brand. Taylor expects the Hummer deal between GM and Tengzhong to be sealed by late August this year.

Money is the first precondition the cash-strapped GM has set for bidders of Hummer. "We were looking for those companies that have the financial resources to fund our future development, and keep the brand and dealers stay and survive," Taylor said.

This means Tengzhong does not need any operational expertise and people. "I'll bring all that to the table," he noted. The Chinese company's lack of experience in either global trade or passenger car manufacturing is also not important, he said.

Hummer CEO James Taylor (R) giving a Hummer model to an official in Sichuan province.

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