Barring a last-minute reprieve, the Hummer brand may have traversed its last trail.

The proposed sale of General Motors’ Hummer division to a Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer has apparently collapsed, though the proposed buyer, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp., is reportedly looking at alternatives that could overcome the apparent opposition of Beijing regulators.

Barring some unexpected reprieve, however, GM said that it is ready to start an orderly shutdown of the once-popular Hummer operation, one of four brands the company decided to close as sell as part of last year’s bankruptcy reorganization.

“GM will now work closely with HUMMER employees, dealers and suppliers to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner,” said John Smith, the U.S. maker’s director of corporate planning and alliances.

GM and Tengzhong reached a preliminary agreement for the sale of Hummer last June.  The proposed deal came as a surprise for a number of reasons.  Some analysts had wondered whether any buyer would surface considering the sharp slump in sales of the brand’s products following the record run-up in oil prices the previous year.

Then there the buyer itself.  While there are an estimated 200 or more vehicle manufacturers in China, Tengzhong had previously produced heavy trucks, not passenger cars.  And to change that would require the approval of the central Chinese government, in Beijing.  Authorities subsequently made it clear they had little enthusiasm for the deal – or the Hummer brand, which sits in sharp contrast to recent Beijing efforts to encourage the sale of smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles.

If anything, government regulators have been pushing to reduce, rather than grow, the number of homegrown automotive manufacturers.

When it was clear approval would not be received in time for an initial January 31 deadline, GM and Tengzhong agreed to extend their talks, and GM officials appeared cautiously optimistic something would break the logjam before the end of February.  But with no word from Beijing, the two parties have apparently concluded there’s no way to make the deal go through.

But there could be an alternative.  A private equity investment fund, New J&A Tengzhong Fund SPC, is trying to raise capital to complete the deal, reports the Associated Press.

“Why shouldn’t China’s Tengzhong undertake its responsibility to go out into the world?” declared Li Yan, a Sichuan-born mining tycoon, on the New J & A Investment Management website.  The investment fund is based on the Cayman Islands, but operates offices in Hong Kong.

Whether GM would consider an alternative offer is so far unclear, but it went through a similar situation with another one of the four brands it had hoped to shed.  An initial sales offer for Saab Automobile fell through, but just as GM was set to wind down that brand, an alternative proposal came through from the Dutch supercar manufacturer, Spyker.

It took about three months to craft a final agreement – a period during which the Swedish automaker’s planned were closed and its board of directors dissolved – but on Tuesday, Spyker and GM completed the sale and Saab plants are expected to be back up and running within several weeks.

TheDetroitBureau’s Joe Szczesny contributed to this report.