GM finds buyer for Hummer

DETROIT, June 2 (UPI) -- Bankrupt U.S. auto giant General Motors Corp. signed a deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese buyer, a source in touch with the Chinese government said.

GM would not disclose name of the buyer or the price for the sale, which it said would close in September, CNNMoney.com reported.

The New York Times reported that the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd. was the buyer that requested anonymity.

The Chinese government vets international purchases over $100 million. Analysts said the Hummer brand -- with sales that dropped 62 percent to 5,013 in the first quarter -- would likely fetch under $500 million.

GM said the sale would rescue 3,000 manufacturing and dealership jobs, as it would continue to make Hummers under contract with the new owner.

For GM, which filed for bankruptcy Monday, "this sale continues to accelerate the reinvention of GM into a leaner, more focused, and more cost-competitive automaker," Troy Clarke, president of GM North America, said in a statement.

GM also intends to stop making Saturn, Pontiac and Saab brands. It recently agreed to sell a portion of its European operations, Opel, to a group led by Canadian parts supplier Magna International Inc.