General Motors Sells Hummer To Chinese Company For USD 150 Million

Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., a little known China-based machinery maker, has put pen to paper an agreement to buy Hummer from General Motors, almost four months after making known their interest. According to Reuters, the deal would be worth about USD 150 million, significantly less than earlier estimates of more than USD 500 million.

Tengzhong targets to complete the deal by early 2010, and is seeking to overcome regulatory hurdles as soon as possible. “We have started communicating with the relevant regulatory bodies and will continue to support the application process in accordance with the requirements”, a Tengzhong spokeswoman said.

U.S. regulators should have little problems with GM disposing of non-core assets like Hummer, but the situation is trickier on China's side. Previous reports have suggested the Chinese government's reluctance to allow the deal, due to Hummer's SUV-only model range and Tengzhong's lack of experience in the automotive industry. The required approvals from the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology might not be so easy to obtain then, if the reports are to be believed.

AboutSeow Yaohan

Seow Yao Han strives to bring you the latest and the most comprehensive information on cars available in Malaysia. But it's never easy for him to talk and write cars in this part of the world because what you lust after is often not what you drive home. When the euphoria of test-driving that branded, super-expensive sports car dies down, he just goes home in his less-than-glamorous ride.