Hummer set to go lean and green after sale

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Hummer already has expertise and experience - all it needs is cash.

That was the message from CEO Jim Taylor this week as he mapped out a bright, green future under Chinese ownership.

Negotiations are under way between General Motors (GM) and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery over the proposed purchase of the luxury car brand.

Taylor expects the deal to be done by the end of the third quarter and, although he refused to discuss the amount of money involved, he told China Daily that cash-strapped GM Corp had set financial clout as the main criteria for bidders.

"All I need is cash," he said. "We were looking for companies with the resources to fund our future development and keep the brand and dealers alive. I'll bring all (the experience and expertise) to the table."

If sold to Tengzhong, the brand will belong to a foreign company with no background in car manufacturing. But Taylor said the Chinese firm was happy to simply pay the bills and leave the vehicle-end of operations to Hummer's existing management, engineering, marketing and advertising teams.

The deal is a perfect fit, he said: Tengzhong will get an auto business and GM will get the brand off its books.

Whether the product is what China needs is subject to heated debate, with many analysts predicting Hummer will never return to the glory days of the early 2000s.

Hummers are high-end, rugged sport utility vehicles that have become symbols of opulence among the rich and famous. GM's decision to sell the brand came after a sharp fall in car sales during the recession. During the first quarter of this year, worldwide sales of GM vehicles dropped 28 percent to 1.6 million, the firm said, with Hummer sales plunging 62 percent to just 5,013.