"The Hummer of tomorrow is not as the same as the Hummer of today," he said. "It has to be more fuel efficient, it is a must, and with an (new) investor we are going to change the image of Hummer."

That will not be an easy task, with Hummers widely regarded as gas-guzzling, road-hogging, oversized machines rich people buy to flaunt their wealth.

For the time being, production of the H2 and H3 models has been halted, while the more compact H3 will be made alongside the Chevy Colorado and other pickup vehicles at the GM plant in Shreveport, Louisiana, until the end of 2010. At that time, Hummer can stay, leave or buy the plant.

In his first public statement, Yang Yi, CEO of Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, said his firm "will invest in the Hummer brand and its research and development capabilities, which will allow Hummer to better meet demand for new products such as more fuel-efficient vehicles in the US".

Tengzhong has repeatedly insisted it has the financial resources to strike a deal and Yang said: "The public should not judge a private company's financial capability from its registered capital. We have the resources for the Hummer deal from our own capital and also funding from some financial institutions."

That position may be further boosted as Suolang Duoji, who it was said could put his own money towards the Hummer deal, saw his wealth increase by HK$315 million (US$40.6 million) after chemicals manufacturer Lumena Resources, of which he is chairman, launched its IPO in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

The new owners may also find a niche market in another part of the world, such as the Middle East, or devise a way to retool the brand to be more affordable and fuel efficient.

Any such efforts would be costly, however, while a more eco-friendly Hummer would be a tough nut to crack, especially since the brand's fans will likely expect future models to uphold its rough-and-tumble nature.

While GM's desire to offload Hummer is obvious, Tengzhong's interest in buying it remains a mystery.

Analysts say the purchase will help the four-year-old company boost its image in China and abroad, but earlier acquisitions of foreign automakers by Chinese firms have so far not ended well.

In 2004, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp paid US$500 million for a 49-percent stake in South Korea's Ssangyong Motors. The latter went bankrupt in January.

Even though GM has no authorized Hummer dealership in China, 700 to 800 vehicles have been sold in the country, said Taylor, who is confident of a bigger consumer base for Hummer when Tengzhong takes on the brand.

If Tengzhong moves the Hummer lines to China, it will find it difficult to get the vehicles onto United States soil, though. When GM announced plans to sell 17,300 China-made cars in the US in 2011 and 51,500 units by the year 2014, it received a backlash from the US Congress and United Auto Workers union.

(China Daily June 19, 2009)