GM To Restart Saturn and Hummer Production

Though GM has closed down both the Saturn and the Hummer brands, its seems that the Saturn Outlook and the Hummer H3 are not completely dead, as both models are still in production, says autonews.com.

GM stated that last month it assembled 1,037 Outlook models at its Lansing, Michigan facility, which is where the crossover's Lamda platform stablemates (Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia) are built. According to a spokesman, the cars were built just to use the remaining of the Saturn-specific material at the facility. The automaker will continue to assemble the Outlook for a few more weeks.

“We are building out a few Saturns to utilize existing material,” GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter said.

The Hummer production will be restarted on April 12. According to GM spokesman Otie McKinley, 849 Hummer H3s and H3Ts will be built in Shreveport, La. The vehicles were ordered by a fleet company and are supposed to be finished by May 13.

American manufacturer GM has closed the line in its Shreveport, Louisiana plant, on which the Hummer was produced, on January 18. Although the Hummer line was closed, the Shreveport facility continues to manufacture Chevrolet Colorado and Canyon mid-size pickups.

After months of negotiations between GM and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., the Chinese company did not take over Hummer. Most people did not agree with the sale, as most of them said that Tengzhong, an industrial machinery manufacturer, doesn't have the experience needed to operate such a large brand.