India's Mahindra says not pursuing Hummer

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (MAHM.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), India's top utility vehicle maker, is not interested in buying General Motors' (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Hummer brand, but will instead focus on its own models for the key U.S. market, a senior official said.

"There has been a lot of speculation. I want to say categorically we are not pursuing Hummer," Vice Chairman Anand Mahindra said at a news conference.

"We are pursuing our own models strategy and we do not want to tarnish our lean warrior strategy," he said, referring to Mahindra's plans for a line-up of eco-friendly vehicles.

Earlier on Monday, a source told Reuters China's Hunan Changfeng Motor Co (600991.SS: Quote, Profile, Research) had held preliminary talks with General Motors, and that the Chinese sport utility vehicle maker had backed off, underlining the difficulty the U.S. firm faces in offloading the gas-guzzler at a time of high fuel prices.

GM, also struggling against a downturn in the North American auto market, has explored a sale of Hummer with potential buyers in Russia, as well, sources have said.

Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska's car unit, Russian Machines, last week also denied it was seeking to buy Hummer.

Mahindra, which earlier this year lost the race to buy the Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands to larger rival Tata Motors Ltd (TAMO.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) (TTM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), plans to launch a small pickup truck and an SUV in the U.S. market, starting in the second half of 2009.

Mahindra declined to comment on whether the company would stick to its timeline for these launches, given falling sales of pickup trucks and SUVs in the U.S. market.

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