Hummers were originally built by
AM General Corporation, formerly the military and government vehicle division of
American Motors, in its
South Bend,
Indiana assembly plant. AM General had planned to sell a civilian version of the Hummer as far back as the late 1980s. In 1990, two matching white Hummers 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 HMMWV received for its service in
Operation: Desert Storm the following year.
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". According to sources[
citation needed], they began doing so after
Arnold Schwarzenegger asked them to; apparently, he was impressed by a convoy of HMMWVs that drove by during his filming
Kindergarten Cop in 1990.
In 1998, AM General sold the brand name to General Motors but continued to manufacture the vehicles. GM is responsible for the marketing and distribution of all Hummers produced by AM General. In the next few years, GM introduced two new homegrown models, the
H2 and
H3, and renamed the original vehicle H1. AM General continues to build the H1 and is contracted by GM to produce the H2. The H3 is built in Shreveport, LA alongside the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups. Unlike the H1, which is a true
off-road vehicle the H2 and H3 are SUVs.
