AM General AM General is an American heavy vehicle manufacturer based in South Bend , Indiana . It is best known for the civilian Hummer and the military Humvee , that is assembled in Mishawaka , Indiana . For a relatively brief period , 1974 – 1979 , the company also manufactured transit bus es , making more than 5 , 400 . Corporate history . AM General traces its roots to the Standard Wheel Company of Terre Haute , Indiana , which expanded in 1903 to include the Overland Automotive Division . In 1908 , John North Willys purchased the Overland company , then based in Indianapolis , Indiana , and renamed it Willys - Overland Motors , Inc . In the 1940s , Willys - Overland developed a vehicle to U . S . Army ' s requirements and later mass - produced " America ' s first four - wheel drive one - fourth - ton tactical utility truck " - the Jeep of World War II fame . In 1953 , Kaiser Motors purchased Willys - Overland , and changed the name to Willys Motor Company . In 1963 the company ' s name changed again to Kaiser - Jeep Corporation . In 1964 , Kaiser - Jeep purchased the Studebaker facilities in South Bend , Indiana , and formed the Defense and Government Products Division in 1967 , which after American Motors purchased Kaiser - Jeep became what is now AM General . AM General ' s roots ( and its location in South Bend ) also lie with the " General Products Division " of Studebaker , which , along with its substantial defense contracts , was acquired by Kaiser Industries in early 1964 after Studebaker closed its U . S . auto manufacturing operations . At the time , Kaiser had been awarded a US $ 87 million Army truck contract , and under government pressure agreed to perform the work at the South Bend plant it had recently acquired from Studebaker . Subsequently , American Motors Corporation ( AMC ) purchased the Jeep Corporation from Kaiser in 1970 when Kaiser itself decided to leave the auto business . In 1971 , AMC made the General Products Division of Jeep ( producing military trucks , as well as contract and non - commercial vehicles ) a wholly owned subsidiary and renamed it AM General Corporation . AM General produced buses , large trucks , and Jeeps for industrial , military , and government use . In the late 1970s , it developed the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle ( HMMWV , nicknamed " Humvee " ) for military use as a heavy - duty replacement for the jeep . The vehicle later became available in a civilian version sold under the Hummer brand name . Another familiar product from the AM General line was the Jeep DJ - 5 series — a purpose built " Delivery Jeep " 2 - wheel drive ( RWD ) version of the Jeep CJ - 5 — used in huge numbers as a right - hand drive mail delivery vehicle by the United States Postal Service . Production of buses lasted only from 1974 until 1979 . American Motors ended its history as an independent automaker in 1982 when controlling interest in the company was purchased by France ' s Renault . U . S . government regulations at that time forbade ownership of defense contractor s by foreign governments , and Renault was partially owned by the French government . Therefore , in 1983 , AM General was sold by AMC to the LTV Corporation and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of the LTV Aerospace and Defense Company . ( As a result , AM General remained an independent company after AMC was purchased by Chrysler Corporation . ) Renco Group bought the company in 1992 . AM General , which remains an independent company and government and military contractor , sold the rights to the Hummer brand to General Motors in 1999 . It continued production of the original civilian Hummer ( dubbed by GM as the H1 ) until June 2006 when it ceased production . AM General built a separate factory to build a new Hummer H2 , designed by and marketed by General Motors . The vehicle went on the market in 2002 , and was produced until January 2009 . AM General does not build the Hummer H3 and is not a part of General Motors . GM was sued early in 2003 by DaimlerChrysler , owners of the Jeep brand , for the Hummer ' s seven slot grille which resembled the design DaimlerChrysler argued consumers associated with Jeep vehicles . The lawsuit was dismissed due to the past corporate history involving AMC and Jeep . On August 20 , 2004 , it was announced that Ronald Perelman ' s MacAndrews & Forbes company would form a joint venture with AM General ' s current owner , Renco Group , to give Perelman 70 % ownership of AM General . The deal reportedly cost close to US $ 1 billion In 2008 , AM General and the Vehicle Production Group , of Troy , Michigan , announced that contracts had been signed for AM General to begin producing purpose - built taxi - cabs , beginning in 2009 . Actual production began in October 2011 . The first vehicle off the line Oct 6 was presented to Marc Buoniconti , a former linebacker for The Citidel who was injured playing football in 1985 . In May 2010 , Azure Dynamics Corp . announced it had chosen AM General to assemble its electric drivetrain into Ford Transit Connect vehicles for the North American market . This product is being produced at AM General ' s facility in Livonia , Michigan . Buses . AM General manufactured bus es for city transit use from 1974 until 1979 , producing a total of 5 , 431 buses ( including 219 electric trolley bus es ) . This originated with a 1971 agreement with Flyer Industries , of Winnipeg , Canada , under which AM General would build and market buses to Flyer ' s designs in the United States . However , before starting production , AMG redesigned the front end of Flyer ' s then - current model , and thus the resulting product was not simply a Flyer design built under license but rather a jointly designed vehicle . Flyer adopted the design changes for its own production ( for its models D800 and E800 ) . Buses were built in lengths of either or , and widths of or . The model numbers were simple , an example being model " 10240 " , which indicated a 102 ″ - wide , 40 ′ - long bus . Suffixes " A " or " B " were used for later models , to indicate certain options . In total , 3 , 571 40 - foot diesel buses and 1 , 641 35 - foot diesel buses were produced . Articulated buses . In 1977 – 1979 , AM General also worked under a partnership with MAN of Germany to build articulated bus es for US transit systems . MAN fabricated the bodyshells in Germany and shipped them to the US , where AM General completed the buses and was the primary contractor with the buyers . Two different lengths were offered , and ; 93 buses were built to the shorter length , and all others were 60 feet long . By October 1978 , the company had decided to discontinue its bus production , and the last MAN articulated bus completed by AM General was finished in March 1979 . The total number built was just under 400 ( 392 or 399 ) , the largest group by far being 150 for Seattle ' s Metro Transit . ( MAN subsequently set up its own factory for US production of its articulated buses , in the small town of Cleveland , North Carolina . ) Trolleybuses . Production of complete motor bus es ( and of any two - axle motor buses ) had ended in 1978 , and aside from the fitting - out of the last articulated MAN shells , the only production in 1979 was that of two batches of trolleybus es ( and the only such vehicles ever built by the company ) . These were all vehicles , model 10240T : 110 for the Philadelphia trolleybus system , operated by SEPTA , and 109 for the Seattle trolleybus system , operated by Metro Transit ( now King County Metro ) . One of the latter has been preserved ( following its retirement in 2003 ) by King County Metro ( see fleet section ) . Development and production of the HMMWV . In 1979 , AM General began preliminary design work on the M998 Series High Mobility Multi - Purpose Wheeled Vehicle ( HMMWV , pronounced Humvee ) ; a 1 . 25 - ton truck intended to replace the M151 MUTT and other Light Utility Vehicle s . The U . S . Army awarded AM General a prototype contract in 1981 and the development and operational testing was conducted over a five - month period in 1982 . In March 1983 , AM General won an initial $ 1 . 2 billion contract to produce 55 , 000 Humvees to be delivered in five basic models and 15 different configurations over a five - year period . In 1983 , the LTV Corporation bought AM General from American Motors Corporation and established it as a wholly owned subsidiary of the LTV Aerospace and Defense Company . In 1984 , the AM General headquarters moved from the American Motors AMTEK Building in Southfield , Michigan , to Livonia , Michigan , and two years later to South Bend , Indiana , where the primary manufacturing operations were located . Production began at the Mishawaka , Indiana , assembly plant in the fall of 1984 and the first deliveries were made in early 1985 . The total production by mid - 1991 was more than 72 , 000 vehicles including international sales . In 1992 , LTV sold AM General to The Renco Group , Inc . , who in 2002 converted it to a limited liability company . By March 1995 about 100 , 000 HMMWVs had been built . Since 1991 , an additional 20 , 000 HMMWVs were ordered by governments . Late in 2000 , AM General was awarded another production contract for 2 , 962 trucks in the M998A2 series . The contract contained six single - year options running to fiscal year 2007 . This contract was extended . To date , nearly 250 , 000 units have been produced . Humvees feature full - time four - wheel drive , independent suspension , steep approach and departure angles , 60 percent gradeability and of ground clearance . Humvees are currently in use by the U . S . Army , Marine Corps , Air Force and Navy at locations throughout the United States and by more than 50 friendly foreign nations . Current production models include the M1151 , M1152 , M1165 , and M1167 . Other military vehicles . Prior to the development of newer vehicles , such as the HMMWV , AM General also acquired contracts from the Department of Defense to build medium and heavy trucks for the armed forces . These included the M35 series of trucks and heavier 5 - ton series of trucks .