Buying Hummer A Risky Move









The idea of an obscure Chinese heavy-equipment maker buying the Hummer brand is entertainingly unusual for most onlookers.

Chinese government officials will likely be tearing their hair out.

For sure, Beijing is keen for Chinese companies to expand overseas. But they also are hoping for some common sense.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan recently railed against Chinese acquisitions made by companies whose managers have little overseas experience, in markets where they don't understand labor relations or even the language.

Yet here is Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery -- whose key overseas markets are Vietnam, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and whose management speaks little English -- venturing to turn around a struggling American symbol of excess.

Having a Chinese company bid for the mother of all gas-guzzlers isn't exactly a snug fit with Beijing's efforts to promote a more environmentally friendly image for the country.

Those familiar with the so-far unheralded Sichuan Tengzhong point to its decent track record in manufacturing a variety of industrial products, having steadily accumulated businesses in China.

The bid for Hummer, it is said, has been carefully considered, with due attention to cultural differences: The Chinese company will leave Hummer management in place, treating the deal almost like a private-equity investment.

That may be. But the track record of cross-border auto-sector deals, especially in niche markets like that for Hummers, isn't great. Tata Motor's travails with Land Rover and Jaguar spring to mind as recent less-than-favorable examples. Hummer's market in the U.S. is fading fast, with sales last year down by half.

Sichuan Tengzhong's bet is that the market can recover.

In financial terms, this is a small deal, even at the upper end of the estimated $500 million price tag.

But it's a deal rich with symbolism, and that won't have escaped the Chinese leadership. The pressure is on Sichuan Tengzhong to make it a success.

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大多数旁观者来说，一家默默无闻的中国重型设备制造商收购悍马(Hummer)品牌这一事件绝对是好玩的不同寻常。

中国政府官员则可能会为此抓狂。

当然，中国政府是热衷于本国公司扩张海外。但他们也希望中国公司能有一些理智。

中国副总理王岐山近期给中国公司的海外收购泼了盆冷水，他批评一些中国公司的管理者基本没有海外业务经验，就盲目进入他们不了解劳工关系甚至不懂语言的市场。

但现在四川腾中重工机械有限公司打算冒险收购并扭转陷入困境的悍马品牌──一个美国无节制生活方式的象征。腾中重工的主要海外市场是越南、巴基斯坦和孟加拉国，其管理层基本不会说英语。

而且，让一家中国公司收购悍马这个油耗子品牌并不符合中国政府树立更加注重环保形像的政策方针。

据那些熟悉腾中重工的人士表示，这家目前还鲜有人知的四川公司在制造各种工业产品方面有着出色的过往业绩，其中国市场业务一直在稳步增长。

据称，该公司慎重考虑了收购悍马的交易，重点关注了收购涉及的文化差异：这家中国公司会保留悍马的管理层，几乎像对待私人资本投资一样处理这一交易。

或许是这样。但汽车业跨国交易的历史记录并不那么好，尤其是悍马所在的小众市场。印度Tata Motor对陆虎(Land Rover)和捷豹(Jaguar)品牌的辛苦收购就是最近一个不如人意的例子。悍马在美国的市场正在迅速萎缩，去年的销量下滑了一半。

四川腾中重工就是在押注这个市场能够复苏。

从财务条款来看，即便按照估计售价高点的5亿美元来看，这笔交易的规模也不大。

但这是一笔富有象征意义的交易，中国领导人不会对此漠然置之。四川腾中重工现在承受着必须成功的压力。