Motoryzacja

General Motors Corp., working to sell assets to help keep $13.4 billion in U.S. loans, has drawn interest in its Hummer brand from a Chinese company and a private-equity firm, people familiar with the talks said.

The U.S. Army is assuring people that General Motors' deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese company has nothing to do with the military version of the rugged vehicle. Officials said some people called the Pentagon, Capitol Hill and AM General LLC, the company that makes the military vehicles, asking whether the rights to the Humvee had been sold to the Chinese.

General Motors Co. is poised to sign a deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer as early as this afternoon, a person briefed on the deal said.

A year ago, things looked tough for Hummer dealers. The day after filing for bankruptcy, General Motors announced it had a tentative buyer lined up for its Hummer brand -- a Chinese company that most people in Detroit had never heard of.

JACKSON, Miss. — General Motors Co. will halt Hummer production next week at its Louisiana plant until sale of the brand to a Chinese company is completed.