The plant produces a few hundred vehicles annually, and its output is limited to local consumption (five dealers in Russia initially).

On Tuesday 3 June 2008, one day prior to GM’s annual shareholder meeting, Rick Wagoner, GM’s CEO at that time, said the brand is being reviewed, and has the possibility of either being sold, having the production line completely redesigned, or being discontinued.[5] This is due to the decreasing demand for large SUVs as a result of higher oil prices.

In 1990, two matching white Hum-Vees were driven from London to Beijing over the rough roads of central Soviet Union. The Hummers made the trip with ease, for they were built to drive on off-road terrain. The highlights of this journey were broadcast in the United States on ESPN. This publicity would pale in comparison to the attention that the Hum-Vee received for its service in Operation: Desert Storm the following year. Also, a privately-owned Hum-Vee was modified into the first Snow-Vee, including the addition of caterpillar tracks, a new rear compartment and a new engine. This vehicle was designed for use in and just below the Arctic Circle, and the Antarctic.

In 1992, AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or Hum-Vee) vehicle to the public under the brand name “Hummer”.

Hummers were originally built by AM General Corporation, which was formerly AMC Jeep’s General Products division,[2] in its Mishawaka, Indiana assembly plant. They were created under a contract for the United States armed forces. The first model, the Hum-Vee, was built in a variety of military-based equipment and versions. These included troop carriers, gun turrets and radar. The U.S. military, on receiving their quota, have adapted some of the vehicles, including modifications to facilitate a directional microwave crowd control beam (Active Denial System).

The French equivalent of AM General’s Humvee is the Renault Sherpa, a light 4×4 tactical military truck dedicated to projection and intervention units. But unlike its famous American counterpart the Sherpa never found its way to the civilian market. Renault offers two versions of the military truck, the Sherpa 2 which can seat 4 passengers offering a payload of 2 to 3 tons and the two-seater Sherpa 3 pick-up that features 10′ flat bed supporting a total payload of 4.1 tons.

No, people haven’t lost their mind with the widespread economic turmoil -well, not yet at least- as this Hummer H3 that’s fitted with a set of wooden wagon wheels is actually a piece of art created by Matthew Harrison and it’s on show at the fifth Zoo Art Fair (17-20 October) in central London. Harrison said that he combined the Hummer’s off-road credentials with ‘Wild West’ wooden wheels to create ‘a sculpture that is a mixture of art, engineering and motoring’. Well, in our opinion he should have added a few horses to complete the theme but then again, we’re more humorists than artists.