GM looks to Chinese buyer as Mahindra says `no' to Hummer

Mumbai: General Motors Corporation is looking to sell its Hummer vehicle brand to sport utility vehicle (SUV) maker Hunan Changfeng Motor Co and is in preliminary talks with the Chinese company, reports said amidst rumours that the Chinese company has also backed off.

Mahindra & Mahindra has refuted reports of its interest in American iconic utility vehicle Hummer and said it was not pursuing the brand General Motors has put on the block.

GM, struggling against an auto market downturn in North America amidst high oil prices and falling sales of its gas-guzzling SUVs, has been looking at prospective buyers in Russia, India and China.

The Hummer is looking at the military vehicle market as demand from civilian buyers has not been big enough to justify a purchase, especially with oil prices runnig near an all-time high.

Changfeng, partly owned by Mitsubishi Motors Corp, supplies its Leopard SUV to the Chinese military at a unit price of no more than 200,000 yuan ($29,120), only a fraction of the cost of a Hummer, sources said.

GM has alliances with other Chinese automakers, including market leader and SAIC Motor Corp and number three Chinese auto maker Dongfeng Motor Group Co, which makes cars with Honda Motor and Toyota Motor.

GM, which lost more than $51 billion over the past three years, planned to sell up to $4 billion assets, including Hummer, although no deal was expected to be concluded immediately, chairman Rick Wagoner  said.

Hummer's US sales fell 40 per cent in the first half of this year.