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Daily Auto News

It worked once before.

When a bid by Swedish supercar builder Koenigsegg to save the Saab brand failed, General Motors announced that it would be closing Saab…and another buyer stepped up. Danish supercar builder Spyker closed the Saab deal this week. Now, a Chinese company has failed in its bid to purchase the famous Hummer SUV brand. Could another eleventh-hour rescue be coming?

It’s possible. The Wall Street Journal reports, “General Motors Co. is looking at two long-shot offers for its Hummer brand after a deal to sell the line of sport utility vehicles collapsed this week.” The two bidders have not been identified, but the Journal reports, “The latest suitors previously submitted bids for Hummer, which GM turned down in favor of a deal with China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery.”

Now that the Tengzhong sale failed, apparently due to Chinese government objections, these offers are being given a second look.

“A source with knowledge of the matter” told Reuters that the remaining bidders are also Chinese. “At least four Chinese companies were among the firms GM contacted to gauge their interest in recent days, the source said, declining to give specific names. Two had expressed interest in buying only part of Hummer’s assets last year, such as tooling and equipment at GM’s Hummer plant in Shreveport, Louisiana, the source said. The other two had made offers for the brand.”

The Reuters report should keep Hummer loyalists from building up too much hope. If Tengzhong indeed failed to obtain Chinese government approval to purchase Hummer, it’s hard to imagine another Chinese firm stepping up to try. And, the Journal cautions, “Hummer’s extinction remains likely, given that both potential buyers have already been turned down by GM.”

If you’re in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year’s best cars as well as this month’s best car deals.