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The green lobby could find itself with a new enemy as early as today with a Chinese manufacturer tipped to finalise a deal to buy Hummer, the maker of gas-guzzling mega-vehicles.
China's Tengzhong is paying bankrupt US car giant General Motors around $150 million (£94 million) for the Hummer brand. Sources close to the deal say it could be completed within hours.
The sale of Hummer is part of a restructuring programme by GM, which is also selling off its Saab, Opel and Saturn arms in a US government-sponspored plan to recover from bankruptcy.
Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery has been in talks with the Detroit carmaker to buy Hummer since June. However, it still needs to get the green light from the Chinese government for a deal.
This is the first major move by a Chinese company to buy up distressed US car assets during the recession and signifies the country's aim to snap up big-name brands and US technology. It will also be China's largest buy of a western brand since 2004 when computer maker Lenovo bought IBM's PC arm.
