You knew it, I knew it… my hairless cat new it.   China was going to make major headway into the automotive industry by picking through the bones of Chrysler and GM.  The 1st bit to go is the Hummer line.

General Motors Corp. has struck a deal to sell its Hummer truck unit to a Chinese industrial business, the two companies confirmed Tuesday.

Privately owned Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd., based in China, will acquire the truck brand, which has been part of GM since 1999. Tengzhong said it plans to keep Hummer’s management team.

“We plan to … allow Humer to innovate and grow in exciting new ways under the leadership and continuity of its current management team,” said Yang Yi, chief executive of Tengzhong.

Yang said the deal “will allow Hummer to better meet demand for new products such as more fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S.”

The companies said the deal would likely close by the end of September.

This leaves other brands like – Pontiac, Saturn and Saab to be sold off or left to die.  One could easily see how a Eurpoean company could pick up Saab, but what values does Pontiac and Saturn hold for potential buyers?  Saturn has never turned a profit and Pontiac as a razor thing margin… The value – specifically for Saturn – is the dealer network.

If a Chinese company wanted to have a pre-establish dealer network this is the chance – buy Saturn and exploit the dealer network. As I believe Chinese manufactures have the ultimate aim to tap the U.S. market, such a development wouldn’t be a surprise to me.

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