The history of the Hummer began with the Humvee. The Humvee was a vehicle developed by AM General Corp. for the US military. It became very popular and General Motors would go on to cerate a model for civilians which came to be known as the Hummer. The vehicles were first sold in 1992.

Background of the Hummer
The original Humvees were constructed in the early 1980s by AM General Corporation. The earliest models were made in Mishawaka in Indiana. The Humvees were made at the behest of the US military.

The earliest Humvee models were strictly for military use and were fitted with military equipment such as radar. The history of the Hummer was changed when the vehicle was made public. The design of the vehicle captured the media’s attention.

The Hummer first got public attention when the vehicle was shown over ESPN. People marveled at how easily it was able to navigate the uneven terrain. However it was the Gulf War that really brought the Humvee into mainstream public consciousness.

The Hummer Emerges
Sensing the strong public demand, AM General decide to produce Humvees for civilian use. They started making the models in 1992 and change the name from Humvee to Hummer. The next important chapter in the history of the Hummer took place in the year 1998.
That was when AM General sold the name rights to General Motors. AM General would continue to produce the vehicles but it was GM that handled the marketing. GM was also responsible for selling the products.
The Hummer would prove to be such a hit that GM would later produce other models. The original Hummer was renamed H1 while the newer models were called H2 and H3 respectively.

The Hummer was initially available in the US but it would later be manufactured and sold in other countries as well. Most of the Hummers were left hand drive, but right hand models were later sold in other countries. A look at the history of the Hummer shows that the mid 1990s were the peak of its popularity and demand.

Future of the Hummer Vehicles
The financial problems of GM have left the future of the Hummer in doubt. In June 2009, GM declared that Hummer production would cease. The increasing oil prices had reduced the demand for the vehicle. 24 hours after making its announcement, GM declared that they were instead selling the brand to another company called Tengzhong.

It is still unclear as to how much of Hummer will be sold to Tengzhong and what will be kept by GM. The initial agreement is that only the name Hummer will be sold. The military technology will be kept by GM. This seems likely as the technology is maintained by AM General and not GM directly.

The history of the Hummer is not very clear right now and whether any more vehicles will be produced using the name. However it remains one of the best known off road utility vehicles around the globe.