It seemed the AM General Hummer line had gone full circle back to the original Studebaker General Products Division which was responsible for all military contracts. GM said Avanti infringed on the Hummer looks by planning a vehicle that closely resembled the Hummer. GM in turn sued boutique automaker Avanti Motor Corporation of Cancun, Mexico after it introduced the Studebaker XUV at the Chicago Auto show in 2002. The lawsuit was dismissed after acknowledgment of the shared corporate history of AMC and Jeep. GM was sued early in 2003 by DaimlerChrysler, owners of the Jeep brand, for the resemblance of the Hummer's seven-slot grille to Jeep's.
It was designed and marketed by GM, but manufactured by AM General at the Mishawaka plant. The Hummer H2 went on the market in 2002, and was produced until January 2009. In 1999, GM acquired the rights to the brand and continued production of the original civilian Hummer as the H1 until June 2006. In 1992 AM General began marketing the HMMWV to the civilian market under the Hummer brand. In 1984 AM General built a separate factory at 13200 McKinley Hwy in Mishawaka for HMMWV production.
In 1992, AM General was sold to Renco Group, which in 2002 converted it to a limited liability company. In 1984, its headquarters moved from the American Motors AMTEK Building in Detroit, Michigan, to Livonia, Michigan, and two years later to South Bend, Indiana, where primary manufacturing operations were located. In 1983, LTV Corporation bought AM General and established it as a wholly owned subsidiary. US government regulations at that time forbade ownership of defense contractors by foreign governments-and Renault was partially owned by the French government.
Īmerican Motors ceased to function as an independent automaker in 1982 when a controlling interest was purchased by Renault. 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. In 1964, Kaiser-Jeep purchased the Studebaker facilities on Chippewa Avenue in South Bend, Indiana, which included Studebaker's "General Products Division", along with its substantial defense contracts.Īt 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.Īmerican Motors Corporation (AMC) purchased the Jeep Corporation from Kaiser in 1970 when Kaiser decided to leave the auto business. Defense and Government Products Division In July 2020, KPS Capital Partners acquired the company. In 1970, it was purchased by American Motors Corporation (AMC). In 1953, Kaiser Motors purchased Willys-Overland, changing its name to first to Kaiser-Willys Motor Company and Kaiser-Jeep Corporation in 1963.
In the 1940s, it collaborated with Ford and developed a vehicle to US Army specifications and later mass-produced "America's first four-wheel drive one-fourth-ton tactical utility truck"-the Jeep of World War II fame. In 1908, John North Willys purchased the Overland company, then based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and renamed it Willys-Overland Motors.