China has taken its first major step into the U.S. car market as General Motors announced it had finalized a deal to sell off its Hummer truck brand to Chinese auto manufacturer Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery.

Under the deal, GM will continue to make the trucks no later than 2010. While a deal has been reached, it is still going to be up to Chinese regulators to approve the deal and decide if the brand can be profitable and fit into the country's overall national strategy to improve energy efficiency.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) has already said that it plans to discontinue its Pontiac brand and that it's looking for buyers for its underperforming Saturn and Hummer brands as it scrambles to meet its June 1 deadline to restructure as mandated by the Obama administration.

Among the bidders for Saturn is an investor group made up of Saturn dealers and Oklahoma City private equity firm Black Oak Partners LLC. Last month, the group said it had approached GM about buying the assets of the Saturn brand and the distribution network. GM confirmed it had been in discussions with Black Oak but said that other investment groups were also interested in taking over Saturn.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) has already said that it will jettison Saab, Saturn and Hummer, but increased government pressure to cut costs and restructure could also spell the end for Pontiac and GMC. That would leave Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick as the last brands standing.

Citing the ubiquitous "people familiar with the discussions", Bloomberg reports that "GMC has a better chance of surviving than Pontiac, one of the people said [...] Among the decisions yet to be reached is what would happen to Pontiac or GMC should Detroit-based GM opt not to keep them, the people said."

Now that the big three CEOs are sealing up their second week on Capitol Hill trying to convince U.S. lawmakers that their companies collectively need tens of billions to survive, what do they plan on doing internally? As in, what changes could be made to the product lines of all three automakers to fit a changed marketplace and a consumer and business populace that has hit the reset switch on what they want out of an automobile? How about jettisoning some brands that aren't core assets? That's the ticket -- or at least a big part of it.

Just which brands are at serious risk of going away? Brands from all three domestic automakers have been bandied about this week, and with 112 models offered from 15 brands just from the three domestic automakers, the industry clearly needs some fat trimmed. The three U.S. automakers now have only a 47% market share in the U.S., down from 62% just five years ago. Just imagine the design, engineering and support a complex product portfolio like that requires in terms of investment. Is that sustainable? Apparently not, and the big three are fighting for their lives in part because of it.

Right off the bat is General Motors Corp.'s (NYSE: GM) Hummer brand. The king of masculine brands has shriveled into virtual nothingness over the past year as consumers stayed away due to higher gas prices, which have now fallen heavily back down. Still, the damage to Hummer is most likely irreversible, and it will be one of GM's first brands to go away. Ford Motor Corp.'s (NYSE: F) luxury Volvo brand is also a prime contender. Volvo sales have fallen 28% this year as customers flock to lower-priced vehicles while tightening those wallets and purse strings.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) is considering dumping Saturn, Pontiac, and Saab in an attempt to cut costs as it looks at a restructuring and government bailout. According to Bloomberg, "General Motors Corp., working to cut costs to win $12 billion in government loans, is studying whether to shed its Saturn, Saab and Pontiac brands in addition to Hummer, people familiar with the matter said."

It may appear to be a good idea, but it is not.

While there would be some short-term savings in production and labor costs it misses some potential problems. That analysis leaves aside legal agreements GM has with dealers. It also fails to look at what the hundreds of thousand of people who own cars from the three nameplates would do. While GM can provide them service and honor warranties, most of these customers bought cars from the brands because they liked them. The cars were their "first choice."

There is no guarantee that these consumers will stick with another GM brand; they could move to any of the firm's competitors to find autos that are more like the ones they bought from the shuttered GM operations. Or, they could simply be so unhappy with GM for the decision that they would walk away from doing business with the big car company.

Closing brands won't fix GM. Getting a new union contract and cutting debt are the only options.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about The General below in the comments.

"The General" does not deserve its nickname any longer. Founded in 1908, General Motors (NYSE: GM) was the largest car company in the world for almost seven decades. It lost that distinction to Toyota (NYSE: TM) during the last year.

GM has 50% of the U.S. car market at one point. That is now down to 20%.

"The General" still maintains a number of the most successful brands in the world: Cadillac, Buick, Chevy, and Pontiac. Years of neglect have pushed the company into a position where it does not make competitive cars in its home market. It greatest current sales successes are in the Chinese market and Latin America.

In 1955, "The General" was the No.1 company in the Fortune 500. It held that position until 2000.

Alongside General Electric (NYSE: GE), GM is probably the most important American corporation of the last 100 years. That won't be true going forward.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) CEO Rick Wagoner told the media this week that there would be no bankruptcy for the beleaguered automaker. While GM and rivals wind down SUV production and see what they can do with the glut of big, gas-hogging trucks in inventory, Wagoner assured the world that GM would not be shutting down any of its brands as a result of its current financial difficulty.

And then came the standard, boring corporate speak from Wagoner when he said that the company's focus is on evolving its various brands to make them more profitable and meet consumer needs.

Well, duh. Isn't that the SOP for every automaker during every quarter? GM has not marketed itself well to the gas-conscious crowd nor was it in a position to change its product mix swiftly as consumer attitudes towards gas efficiency changed almost overnight.

With GM shares trading for under $10 now -- the lowest price in about 50 years -- the company can't spin more rhetoric. It's put up or shut down time. That is, unless gas prices go down and the economy improves. I won't take that bet with anyone for the foreseeable future. Will you?

GM (NYSE: GM) now has eight car brands. Since some models are built off similar platforms, a sedan from Saturn may not be much different from one sold by Chevy. The problem is GM may not be taking sales from Toyota (NYSE: TM). It may be taking sales from itself.

Last year, GM introduced three crossovers, according to The Wall Street Journal-- the Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia, which are all but identical, and the more luxurious Buick Enclave. There are, of course, only a limited number of crossover buyers. Strong sales for the GMC crossover may hurt Buick.

GM thinks it can manage all of its brands but in a falling domestic car market there is little evidence to show that the company's plan will work.

It is time to kill some of GM's brands, save marketing money, and stop most of the competition among cars built by the same parent company. The firm's weakest brands by sales and falling units are Buick and Saturn. Most of their models are matched by cars in the Chevy, GMC, and Pontiac lines.

Shutting down brands is hard, an admission of defeat. But it is time for GM to let some of its model lines go.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

I like to check out the auto reviews at Edmunds.com . It comes as no surprise to me that the Pontiac Solstice from General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) has created quite a stir and received double acclaim as editors choice and consumers pick as the most significant vehicle of 2006. Solstice garnered 50% more award votes than the second place finishing Honda Civic and it is worthy of note that Chevrolet's Corvette finished the voting in close third place.

This simply shows that by the standards of knowledgeable auto reviewers and by consumers interested enough to dedicate some time to responding to a lengthy questionnaire, GM has taken two out of three of the top positions in consumer approval. This was the fifth annual reader poll at Edmunds.com . Votes were cast across 27 categories but I was unable to determine how many consumers actually participated in the voting. A good place for further discussions about the Pontiac Solstice can be found at Autoblog.

One of the stocks that I like to keep an eye on is AutoNation (NYSE: AN). It interests me due to their number one position in online auto sales and because of their robust size. I'm getting a bit curious about how quiet it is over there in terms of news items. I'm not the least bit worried about what they're up to. As I've said before, generally a lack of news means that things are going in a business-as-usual fashion.

As of this writing, the most current news item you'll find on the AutoNation website is their Oct. 26, 2006 news release of their third quarter earnings report. . The most current news piece I can find on the web is a reference to the AutoNation Inc. presentation at the China Auto Services Market Summit, December 5, 2006 at JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai . What this signals to me is that AutoNation is yet another active participant in the massive movement to exploit China's blooming economic opportunities. The summit seemed to be geared more towards automobile service operations than towards outright retailing of automobiles. The logistics of moving cars to market, the financing of new vehicle purchases, underpinning the retail segment, leasing, renting and mechanical service were among the topics of focus. The entire summit signals to me that the groundwork is being carefully laid for a major influx of automobiles into mainland China.

I like the feel of the whole thing. "Detroit's" big three are surely in full preparation for this impending boom. Aren't they? I want to see some advertising fliers showing Chevrolet (NYSE: GM) Silverados parked along the Great Wall. I want to see pictures of the streets of Peking jammed with Nitros (NYSE: DCX) and Explorers (NYSE: F). I want to see some of the money we've spent on cheap Chinese die cast tools and toys coming back as wages for American workers. I want my piece of their economy now. C'mon gang, it's time to bring it on home!