Just a day after announcing the successful sale of Saab, General Motors today announced that a deal to sell its Hummer unit of SUVs has fallen through. GM has been negotiating with Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd., but today announced in a statement that the Chinese heavy machinery maker was, “unable to complete the acquisition of Hummer.”

GM agreed to try and find a buyer for its Hummer brand upon exiting bankruptcy last year. GM decided to refocus on just four brands (Chevy, Buick, GMC and Cadillac). Since then it announced the shut-down of the historic Pontiac brand and also the wind-down of Saturn after a deal to sell it to Penske fell through. Just yesterday GM completed the sale of Saab to Dutch automaker Spyker.

GM has said it will honor Hummer warranties and provide service support and parts to owners worldwide.

Official release after the jump:

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Under new ownership by Chinese heavy machinery maker Sichuan Tengzhong, Hummer will move forward with plans to introduce a smaller and more efficient H4 model. Previewed in concept form as the HX (above), the H4 would be lighter and more fuel-conscious, but wouldn’t give up on the brand’s hard-core attitude. It would be designed as a rival to the Jeep Wrangler in rugged off-road performance.

According to brand CEO Jim Taylor, the H4 would come to market in about three years, followed a year or two later by an even smaller and even more fuel-efficient H5 model.

The sale of Hummer to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd. is expected to be finalized by December 1st, although judging by the fact that GM still hasn’t managed to sell Saab or Saturn, that date might be pushed back – or the sale might not happen at all.

[Source: Autmotive News via LeftLaneNews]

General Motors has sold its Hummer brand of SUVs to Chinese heavy industrial machinery builder Sichuan Tengzhon. No details have been released but the sale was reportedly made for a sum of just $150 million.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson had estimated in documents filed during GM’s bankruptcy proceedings that the brand could be worth as much as $500 million.

The once glamorous brand of massive and massively expensive SUVs began to suffer when the price of fuel spiked last year, but the recession hurt the company far more as it has recorded a 64 percent decline in sales so far in 2009. That drop is the largest sales decline recorded by any automobile brand this year.

Tengzhong will take over Hummer’s brand network as well as it’s manufacturing processes, however, GM will continue to build the H2, H3 and H3T on contract until June 2011. Brand CEO Jim Taylor will remain on with the company.

The sale of Hummer is actually the first successful one in GM’s brand elimination process. The company announced it would eliminate Pontiac, while selling off Saturn, Saab and Hummer and keeping four core brands: GMC, Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet. The sale of Saturn to Penske recently fell through while GM has yet to sign a contract with Koenigsegg group, which is interested in Saab.

[Source: Automotive News]

General Motors’ sale of its Hummer brand to China’s Tengzhong may be completed within a week.

The two companies have been working on a deal for Hummer since June, and an unnamed source said to be the discussions said a deal is imminent.

“Tengzhong executives have been traveling between the U.S. and China in the past months and more will arrive in Detroit soon,” the source told Reuters. “If there are no big surprises, an agreement could be finalized next week.”

The source also said that, as expected, Tengzhong is likely to keep Hummer’s senior management and operational team, as well as its dealership network.

The deal, reportedly worth $100 million, would also enter Tengzhong into a long-term agreement with GM over components, material supply and assembly. GM’s Shreveport, La. plant would be contracted to build the H3 and H3T models through 2010.

One final hurdle in the way of a Tengzhong’s Hummer acquisition is approval of the Chinese government. Earlier reports from a state-run radio station said the Chinese government may nix the deal but recent comments from China’s commerce ministry sounded more positive. The unnamed source said Chinese regulators will decide whether to approve the deal after it is finalized.

[Source: Automotive News and Reuters]

According to a report on Chinese state radio, the sale of Hummer by General Motors to heavy-equipment manufacturer Tengzhong will not go ahead. The report on China National Radio states that Tengzhong’s acquisition of Hummer goes against the government’s efforts to reduce pollution by manufacturing companies in China.

Tengzhong released a statement in response to the report saying that just because the comments were made on state radio, it does not necessarily reflect the will of the Chinese government.

While neither side has released any details of the agreed sale, it is reported to be worth roughly $100 million.

The China National Radio report also stated that China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) would also seek to stop the sale of Hummer because Tengzhong lacks expertise in auto manufacturing.

Tengzhong also dismissed this report saying that as no NDRC official was cited. The Chinese heavy-equipment manufacturer did admit that no official agreement with Hummer or GM had been signed but did say that it is continuing to work with the U.S. automaker and the Chinese government.

[Source: BBC]

Earlier today we reported that GM had reached a tentative deal to sell off the Hummer brand to an unnamed party. That company has now been identified as Chinese heavy machinery maker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd. – or just Tengzhong for short.

Tengzhong will take control of the Hummer brand including the senior operational team and the company’s dealership network. It also plans to continue a relationship with General Motors in the immediate future while it looks to expand Hummer with new products.

“The Hummer brand is synonymous with adventure, freedom and exhilaration, and we plan to continue that heritage by investing in the business, allowing Hummer to innovate and grow in exciting new ways under the leadership and continuity of its current management team,” said Yang Yi, CEO of Tengzhong. “We will be investing in the Hummer brand and its research and development capabilities, which will allow Hummer to better meet demand for new products such as more fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S.”

In an interview with Automotive News, Hummer CEO James Taylor said that long term the company will look to set up its own engineering and marketing offices in the United States.

Taylor also said that Tengzhong’s plans include expanding the Hummer product lineup and using alternative powertrains to help it meet with increasingly stringent environmental standards.

The Tengzhong company is the largest privately owned engineering company in China, specializing in heavy machinery for large scale construction projects, such as roads and bridges. It does not, however, have any experience in building passenger vehicles.

[Source: Automotive News]

Official release after the jump:

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