GM has finally found a buyer for the iconic Hummer brand in Chinese company Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd. The commercial trucks and industrial machinery builder hopes to close the deal by early 2010, but only after Chinese regulatory agencies give them the go signal. Approval by the Chinese government, including the Ministry of Commerce may prove to be a huge obstacle for Tengzhong because a Hummer purchase would mean the right to use their technologies which would likely fail to meet the terms of their energy efficiency campaign, but it looks like the Chinese company will actually have its way.

Hummer was doing well early in the decade and even sold 71,524 units in 2006, but sales consistently declined after gasoline prices reached over $4 per gallon. Last September, Hummer experienced an all time low of 64% decline compared to units sold in the same month the previous year. That’s the most significant loss in any brand available nationwide.

Early on, the response to the sale was quite negative in China with people asking why a company with no experience in the consumer vehicle manufacturing business would buy a struggling Western company with a reputation for producing vehicles with poor fuel economy, but things seem to be looking up after regulators are saying they may allow such overseas acquisitions because of the global economic downturn.

"We have started communicating with the relevant regulatory bodies and will continue to support the application process in accordance with the requirements," said a spokeswoman from Tengzhong. She also expressed their intent to set up a manufacturing plant in China to tap the Chinese market.

Tengzhong intends to acquire 80% of the company, while entrepreneur Suolang Duoji will be retaining 20%. Both GM and Tengzhong are tightlipped about the terms of the deal, but news reports are quoting $150 million, a far cry from the $500 million GM CEO Fritz Henderson announced before.

Hummer H2 SUV SUT Chrome Side Marker Light Lamp Covers    US $49.95

06 08 Hummer H3 Chrome Front Bumper Corner End Covers    US $98.95

Hummer H2 FRONTGRILLE GUARD Stainless Steel 2003 2009    US $248.95

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA issued a massive recall involving 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles in September 29, 2009 because of a safety issue wherein the driver’s seat floor mat can get stuck on the accelerator pedal and causing unintended acceleration. Apparently, this safety defect caused an accident in August where four people were killed. The NHTSA also announced they received continued reports of Toyota and Lexus vehicles accelerating even when the pedal has been released. Earlier, the NHTSA instructed owners of the vehicles in question to remove the driver’s side floor mats and not to replace them with any other mat. Toyota also

The NHTSA cited the following vehicles as the ones affected by this recall: 2007-2010 Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Toyota Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES 350, 2006-2010 Lexus IS 250 and Lexus IS 350. However, other Toyota vehicles not included in the list are advised to be vigilant and consider removing their driver’s side floor mats as well as other models use the same floor mat design according to Toyota. The company might issue a broader list once they finalize the details.

To deal with the issue, Toyota Motor Sales, USA convened with the NHTSA and issued instructions to dealers in October 1 so that they can continue selling the affected vehicles. Toyota said to attach floor mats to the driver’s side seat frames of those vehicles that have self-locking wire ties to prevent any problems caused by the defect. Toyota refers to it as a “semi-permanent” floor mat installation process. No word on whether this is the permanent fix they came up with for the faulty floor mat design.