GM may sign Hummer sale agreement this week

MICHIGAN: General Motors may sign an agreement for the sale of the Hummer sport-utility vehicle business to a Chinese machinery maker this week, said two people familiar with negotiations. Executives from prospective buyer Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery based in Chengdu, China, are expected to arrive in Detroit early this week for more negotiations with GM, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks aren���t public.

An agreement could be signed and announced during the trip, one of the people said. It will be subject to US and Chinese regulatory approval before it will take effect.

GM chief executive officer Fritz Henderson is working to dispose of half of the automaker���s US brands so the carmaker can focus on the four that remain. The company is eliminating the Pontiac brand, and deals are pending to sell its Saab brand to Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg Automotive and Saturn to Penske Automotive Group.

���Since early June, when GM announced that it reached a memorandum of understanding with Tengzhong for the potential sale of the Hummer brand, the parties have been in frequent discussions working closely to finalise a definitive agreement,��� GM said in an e-mailed statement attributed to Hummer CEO Jim Taylor. ���Negotiations continue to progress and the transaction will be announced upon the signing of the definitive agreement as soon as appropriate.��� GM won���t provide further specifics until the agreement is completed, the statement said.

���We are working through a process, we���ve been in frequent discussion to finalise a definitive agreement which will be announced as soon as appropriate,��� said Tim Payne, a spokesman for Tengzhong.