General Motors has reached a preliminary agreement for the sale of its Hummer brand of large sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks to a machinery company in western China with ambitions to become a carmaker, a person familiar with the Chinese government approval process said Tuesday.

If the purchase is completed, it would mark the first acquisition of a well-known American automotive brand by a Chinese company. Chinese automakers have already purchased the MG and Rover brands, two of the most famous names in British automotive history.

[Read](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/business/03auto.html?_r=1&ref=business “Read the Article”) (New York Times)