Planned for a 96-acre site in Mishawaka, near South Bend innorthern Indiana, the 630,000-sf facility will deliver a new sportutility vehicle to market in 2002, the Hummer H2. Jim Armour,president and CEO of AM General, says the H2 plant operations willbe located just east of the existing plant and will be part of thecomplex that produces both the Humvee military vehicle and thecommercial version, now called the Hummer H1.

Chuck Robinson, senior vice president at AKA, says his firm willprovide overall management and single-source responsibility for thenew facility. AKA is partnering with Chiyoda AES, a Detroitautomotive process-engineering company, for process-related programmanagement support. AKA will simultaneously provide comprehensivearchitectural and engineering services for the project.

The Hummer H2 project represents a joint agreement between AMGeneral and General Motors of North America to produce a completelynew sport utility inspired by the popular Hummer H1. AM General,headquartered in South Bend, IN, is a privately held company ownedby New York City-based Renco Group Inc.