The deal for Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. Ltd. to purchase Hummer from GM fell through on Wednesday and prompted the auto industry giant to announce it will be closing down the brand. The deal was halted after Tengzhong failed to acquire the correct permits from the Chinese government within the proposed timeframe.

Speculation is that either the Chinese government was resistant to the deal as a way for it to keep people from investing in the auto industry or due to environmental concerns with the brand or a combination of the two.

Hummer sold 71,524 units in 2006, its best year ever. After the gas hike in 2008 those numbers slowly dwindled to a pathetic 325 units in 2009. The only way Hummer would have survived would have been if it moved away from the same-old styling image; maybe even making civilian versions of the military’s future HMMWV replacement.

[via New York Times]