Chinese firm agrees to buy iconic Hummer brand

Hummer, the off-road vehicle that once epitomized America's love for hulking trucks, is now in the hands of a Chinese heavy-equipment maker.

General Motors Co. and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp. finally signed the much-anticipated deal for GM to sell the brand yesterday.

Tengzhong will get an 80 percent stake in the company, while Hong Kong investor Suolang Duoji, who indirectly owns a big stake in Tengzhong through an investment company, will receive a 20 percent stake.

The investors also will get Hummer's dealer network.

Financial terms were not disclosed, although one source said the sale price was around $150 million.

GM and Tengzhong said the transaction still must be approved by the U.S. and Chinese governments.

George Hoffer, a professor of economics specializing in the automobile industry at Virginia Commonwealth University, said the sale of Hummer is much more complicated and faces more pitfalls than the sale of Saturn, which blew up at the last minute.

The two main difficulties are getting approval from the Chinese government and Sichuan Tengzhong's inexperience building passenger vehicles, Hoffer said.

Hummer's current management team will stay with the new company, which will be based either in Detroit or suburban Auburn Hills, Mich.

James Taylor, the GM executive who has run Hummer recently, will remain as its chief executive officer.

Taylor said the key to resurrecting the brand will be quickly rolling out more fuel-efficient models that get over 20 mpg. "We have a very steep uphill challenge in front of us."

Staff writer Louis Llovio and The Associated Press contributed to this report.