"DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 9:17 AM ET 6/22/2017
Humvee maker AM General is selling its light-vehicle assembly plant in Indiana to a China-backed company aiming to make electric cars, an abrupt shift for a factory that once built hulking Hummer H2 SUVs for General Motors Co.
SF Motors, a company backed by Sokon Industry Group and operating out of San Francisco, will acquire the factory and is committing to preserve 430 jobs and invest $30 million in upgrades. Most of the employees working in the AM General facility in South Bend have been building wagons for Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and custom vehicles for buyers with special needs, and are largely represented by the United Auto Workers union.
The deal was announced Thursday in a press release, but the terms weren't released. It is expected to close in the fourth quarter, but needs to receive Chinese and U.S. regulatory approvals.
AM General said it will continue to center on its core operation of supplying military vehicles for the defense industry. Those products, including the iconic Humvee, are built near the light-vehicle assembly plant and AM General has typically preserved a strict separation of the two business units.
SF follows Michigan-based Rivian Automotive in buying an old automotive factory with the intention of converting it into an EV factory. Rivian recently built Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s Normal, Ill., facility that was closed last year.
Write to John D. Stoll at
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An ally to persuade the Indiana legislature to allow direct sales my manufacturer?
