"It's a natural fit," said Jim Lynch of Lynch Hummer, who conceived of the idea of the "Adventure Shooting Sports" offshoot of the dealership, in a statement released on Monday.
"With the automobile industry suffering sharp sales declines, Jim Lynch found himself with a beautiful facility that was vastly underutilized," the statement added.
Whatever the reaction to these strange bedfellows, it is a novel approach for a struggling so-called "non-core" brand that GM said it is in the process of selling to Chinese buyer Tengzhong. On August 3, GM said that Hummer July sales were down 26 percent compared with June.
However, GM says Lynch never got formal permission from the automaker to sell firearms in the showroom.
"GM dealers are independent business owners; however, under terms of the General Motors Sales and Service agreement, the dealer is required to provide GM with a written request for the change of use of the premises," GM said in response to an Inside Line query on Monday. "GM has not received a written request from Lynch Hummer for the addition of Adventure Shooting Sports to its Chesterfield, Missouri location. General Motors will work directly with the dealer to resolve this issue."
It is instructive that Lynch told CNN that he had not sold any vehicles under the popular Cash for Clunkers program, which is designed to get more fuel-efficient vehicles into the hands of consumers.
Inside Line says: What did you expect? An ice cream store or miniature golf course inside a dying Hummer dealer? — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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