China's planning agency is likely to reject a Chinese company's bid to buy General Motors Corp.'s Hummer brand -- in part because its gas-guzzling vehicles conflict with Beijing's energy conservation goals, state radio reported.
Hummer pickups and SUVs are made at GM's Shreveport assembly plant and local leaders had been hoping that the Chinese company would continue making the vehicles here. GM announced this week that it will stop making mid-size pickups by June 2012.
China National Radio, citing no source, said the country's National Development and Reform Commission also is likely to say Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp., a maker of construction machinery, lacks expertise to run Hummer.
Tengzhong spokespeople did not immediately respond to phone messages.
Tengzhong emerged as Hummer's surprise buyer this month after GM sought bankruptcy protection from its creditors. Hummer was among the brands GM is dropping as it reorganizes its operations.Tengzhong is privately owned, which means it is free of some of the controls on Chinese state-owned companies. But regulators still can block foreign acquisitions.
Auto industry analysts questioned how the company, which makes construction vehicles such as cement mixers and tow trucks, could succeed with Hummer.
GM said the planned sale would save some 3,000 jobs in the United States. Tengzhong said it planned to invest in research to create more fuel-efficient Hummers.
