GM Sells Hummer to China's Tengzhong

SHANGHAI - June 3, 2009: General Motors has reached a preliminary agreement to sell its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co, a machinery company based in western China, according to media reports on Tuesday.

GM said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Sichuan Tengzhong for the sale. Tengzhong said it will retain Hummer's senior management and operational team,

Financial terms were still under discussion and will not be disclosed, GM said. And the deal still required preliminary approval by Beijing officials.

GM also assured that the deal would save about 3,000 jobs in the United States, and that Hummer would remain based in the United States, through at least 2010.

Sichuan Tengzhong is known in China for making special-use vehicles, bridge piers, highway construction and maintenance machinery. The company said it plans to expand into the premium off-road vehicle segment following the deal.