DETROIT — General
Motors said on Wednesday that it would shut down Hummer, the
brand of big sport utility vehicles that became synonymous with the
term gas guzzler, after a deal to sell it to a Chinese manufacturer
fell apart.
Paul Sakuma/Associated
Press
A Hummer dealership in
Burlingame, Calif.
Tim Boyle/Bloomberg News
A Hummer H3 on display.
The
buyer, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines, said in a
statement that it had withdrawn its bid because it was unable to
receive approval from the Chinese government, which was trying to put
a new emphasis on limiting China’s dependence on imported oil
and protecting the environment.
Tight financial markets also
hurt the deal. When the commerce ministry did not bless the
transaction, the well-capitalized Chinese banks became reluctant to
lend money to Tengzhong, even though it tried to set up an overseas
subsidiary to buy Hummer. That left Tengzhong trying to borrow money
from Western banks that have been curtailing their lending even to
established borrowers, much less a little-known company from western
China.