Hummer Deal Falls Though; GM Announces Brand Wind-Down

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:

DETROIT – General Motors today announced that Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd. (Tengzhong) was unable to complete the acquisition of HUMMER. As a result, GM will begin the orderly wind-down of the HUMMER operations.

“One year ago, General Motors announced that we were going to divest HUMMER, as part of focusing our efforts on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac going forward. We have since considered a number of possibilities for HUMMER along the way, and we are disappointed that the deal with Tengzhong could not be completed,” said John Smith GM vice president of corporate planning and alliances. “GM will now work closely with HUMMER employees, dealers and suppliers to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner.”

GM will continue to honor HUMMER warranties, while providing service support and spare parts to current HUMMER owners around the world.