A Hummer, on display at the 2009 Chengdu Motor Show in this file photo, is now a "cool souvenir" for some wealthy Chinese. Wang Xiwei / for China Daily
BEIJING - Hummer production in the United States has ended, but that has had one unlikely reaction in China - an increasing demand for the SUV which some say is big, brash and ugly.
The last Hummer H2 available in Beijing, for example, was sold for 1.6 million yuan ($236,000), more than 300,000 yuan higher than its sticker price of 1.28 million yuan.
"We still have potential buyers for Hummers," said Gong Jianzhong, from Yayuncun Automobile Exchange Center in Beijing, the biggest auto market in northern China. "People are still coming in, asking for Hummers."
But this demand may be attributed to wealthy Chinese such as coal mine owners from Shanxi and Inner Mongolia want the vehicle as a "cool souvenir" before the nameplate disappears, Gong said.
Other American marques are also not doing well in China, the world's largest auto market in terms of sales and production.