GM deals Hummer to Chinese buyer

GM deals Hummer to Chinese buyer
Bankrupt automaker won't disclose details of deal to sell truck line, but source identifies buyer as Sichuan Tengzhong.
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By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: June 2, 2009: 12:49 PM ET

Hummer is one of the brands GM is shedding as it restructures.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors Corp. has signed a deal to sell its Hummer truck unit to a Chinese industrial company, a person with knowledge of the deal said Tuesday.

The news comes a day after GM (GMGMQ) filed for bankruptcy in New York. The company did not identify the buyer nor name a price, saying only that the deal would close by the end of September.

But a source identified the buyer as Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd. in China.

As part of the deal, some GM plants will continue to build the Hummer brand for the new owner, at least for awhile. The company said its Shreveport, La., plant will keep building Hummers for the new owner until at least 2010.

"I'm confident that Hummer will thrive globally under its new ownership," said Troy Clarke, president of GM North America, in a press release. "And for GM, this sale continues to accelerate the reinvention of GM into a leaner, more focused, and more cost-competitive automaker."

GM also said that the deal should protect more than 3,000 jobs in manufacturing and engineering, and at dealerships "around the country."

The Hummer and other large vehicles have been a drag on the U.S. auto industry since fuel prices spiked in 2008 and the recession deepened.

GM said it sold 5,013 Hummers worldwide in the first quarter, down 62% from the 13,050 that it sold in the same period the prior year.

Hummer isn't the only brand that GM is leaving behind. The automaker will also shed its Pontiac, Saturn and Saab brands and cut loose more than 2,000 of its 6,000 U.S. dealerships by next year.

That could result in more than 100,000 additional job losses if those dealerships are forced to close.

GM filed for bankruptcy hours after Chrysler's bankruptcy process cleared a hurdle when a federal judge approved its asset sale.

The GM bankruptcy was hailed by President Obama, who wants a complete overhaul of the U.S. auto industry, even though the Chapter 11 filing is expected to result in the loss of 20,000 jobs and the closure of a dozen facilities.

Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) was financial adviser in GM's Hummer deal.

--CNNMoney.com senior writer Peter Valdes-Dapena contributed to this report.