AM General Information

AM General is an American heavy vehicle and contract automotive manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. It is best known for the civilian Hummer and the military Humvee that are assembled in Mishawaka, Indiana. For a relatively brief period, 1974–1979, the company also manufactured transit buses, making more than 5,400.

AM General traces its roots to the Standard Wheel Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, which expanded in 1903 to include the Overland Automotive Division. In 1908, John North Willys purchased the Overland company, then based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and renamed it Willys-Overland Motors, Inc. In the 1940s, Willys-Overland developed a vehicle to U.S. Armys requirements and later mass-produced "Americas first four-wheel drive one-fourth-ton tactical utility truck"—the Jeep of World War II fame. In 1953, Kaiser Motors purchased Willys-Overland, and changed the name to Kaiser-Willys Motor Company. In 1963 the companys name changed again to Kaiser-Jeep Corporation. In 1970 Kaiser-Jeep was purchased by American Motors Corporation after which AMC set up AM General for AMCs military vehicle production.

In 1964, Kaiser-Jeep purchased the Studebaker facilities in South Bend, Indiana, which included Studebakers "General Products Division", along with its substantial defense contracts.

At the time, Kaiser had been awarded a US$87 million Army truck contract, and under government pressure agreed to perform the work at the South Bend plant it had recently acquired from Studebaker.

American Motors Corporation (AMC) purchased the Jeep Corporation from Kaiser in 1970 when Kaiser decided to leave the auto business.

In 1971, AMC made the General Products Division of Jeep (producing military trucks, as well as contract and non-commercial vehicles) a wholly owned subsidiary and renamed it AM General Corporation.

American Motors ended its history as an independent automaker in 1982 when controlling interest in the company was purchased by Frances Renault.

U.S. government regulations at that time forbade ownership of defense contractors by foreign governments, and Renault was partially owned by the French government.

In 1983, the LTV Corporation bought AM General from American Motors Corporation and established it as a wholly owned subsidiary of the LTV Aerospace and Defense Company.

In 1984, the AM General headquarters moved from the American Motors AMTEK Building in Detroit, Michigan, to Livonia, Michigan, and two years later to South Bend, Indiana, where the primary manufacturing operations were located.

In 1992, LTV sold AM General to The Renco Group, Inc., who in 2002 converted it to a limited liability company.

In 1992 AM General began marketing the HUMVEE to the civilian market under the Hummer brand.

In 1999 they sold the rights to the Hummer brand to General Motors.

It continued production of the original civilian Hummer (marketed by GM as the H1) until June 2006 when it ceased production.

AM General built a separate factory to build a new Hummer H2, designed by and marketed by General Motors. The vehicle went on the market in 2002, and was produced under contract to GM until January 2009. AM General did not build the Hummer H3, and the firm was not part of General Motors Corporation.

GM was sued early in 2003 by DaimlerChrysler, owners of the Jeep brand, for the Hummers seven slot grille which resembled the design DaimlerChrysler argued consumers associated with Jeep vehicles. The lawsuit was dismissed due to the past corporate history involving AMC and Jeep.

On August 20, 2004, it was announced that Ronald Perelmans MacAndrews and Forbes company would form a joint venture with AM Generals current owner, Renco Group, to give Perelman 70% ownership of AM General. The deal reportedly cost close to US$1 billion

In 2008, AM General and the Vehicle Production Group (VPG), of Troy, Michigan, announced that contracts had been signed for AM General to begin producing purpose-built taxi-cabs, beginning in 2009. Actual production began in October 2011. The first vehicle off the line was presented to Marc Buoniconti, a former linebacker for The Citadel who was injured playing football in 1985.

In May 2010, Azure Dynamics Corp. announced it had chosen AM General to assemble its electric drivetrain into Ford Transit Connect vehicles for the North American market. This product is being produced at AM Generals facility in Livonia, Michigan.

September 2013, AM General reached an agreement to purchase the United States Department of Energys (DOE) secured loan to the Vehicle Production Group (VPG). Prior to this, AM General acted as sole vehicle assembler for VPG. As a result of this transaction, AM General created a wholly owned company, Mobility Ventures LLC, to operate the Mobility Vehicle-1 (MV-1) business and receive all VPG assets.

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