Report: China to oppose Hummer purchase

• Advocate business staff
• Published: Jun 26, 2009

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In a potential blow for Louisiana, the Chinese government is likely to reject a bid by one of that nation’s industries to buy the Hummer unit of General Motors Corp., according to a report by China National Radio.

The Associated Press cited the late Thursday report, which held that China’s planning agency — the National Development and Reform Commission — is likely to reject the bid because the gas-guzzling vehicles conflict with Beijing’s conservation goals and because the buyer lacks the expertise to run Hummer.

The potential buyer, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp., hasn’t completed a deal with GM to buy Hummer, but GM officials earlier this month said the deal could save 3,000 current U.S. jobs. Some jobs could be at GM’s Shreveport plant, where the production of 10,000 Hummer vehicles from South Africa was expected to take place under Tengzhong ownership.

Though Tengzhong is privately owned, Chinese regulators can still block foreign acquisitions, the AP reported.

Louisiana officials say they’ll continue to recruit a next-generation line of GM cars to the Shreveport plant, though GM has said publicly that the plant will close. Production of current Chevrolet and GMC trucks there will end in 2012, the company said.