Humvee maker heading for sale – report

AM General, the company which makes the iconic Humvee military vehicle, is reportedly up for sale.

Sources have told Reuters the owners of AM General have engaged the services of Australia's own Macquarie Group to seek out bidders for a potential auction-style sale.

The private equity firms in control of the military vehicle maker are reportedly looking to sell for around US$2 billion ($2.8 billion).

AM General's main competitors BAE Systems, Oshkosh and General Dynamics are said to be interested. Another source claims Fiat Chrysler and GM are in the fray too.

Should a sale go through, it will be the latest in a series of mergers and acquisitions in the defence contractor market.

If either GM or Fiat Chrysler ends up buying AM General, it will be interesting to see if they decide to extend the Humvee brand into the consumer market.

GM bought the Hummer name in 1999, and began selling the civilian version of the military Humvee as the Hummer H1. The later H2 and H3 SUVs mimicked the H1's styling, but were based on GM's full-size and mid-size pickup truck platforms.

Production ended in 2010 when Hummer was withdrawn from the market due to the global financial crisis and GM's slide into bankruptcy. Multiple attempts to sell the brand as a going concern fell through and the brand has been mothballed ever since.

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