New York  - General Motors is expected to announce Tuesday the tentative sale of its muscle Hummer brand, but won't identify the buyer or price until later, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The announcement is to be made on its first day of bankruptcy court proceedings after the country's largest car maker and the White House announced Monday that GM would pursue protection under US bankruptcy laws.

The Journal quoted people familiar with the Hummer deal, which would provide for GM to continue producing H2 and H3 trucks and SUVs for the buyer at Louisiana and Indiana plants.

GM has already announced the death of its other muscle brand, Pontiac, and is seeking buyers for Saturn and Saab. The Journal quoted one person as saying that Hummer may be headed to a similar fate as Pontiac if no buyer was found by early June.

GM's European brands Opel and Vauxhall, which are not part of the US bankruptcy, are in the process of being sold off to Canadian- Austrian auto parts manufacturer Magna and a Russian partner, with the aid of the German government.

GM hopes to emerge from bankruptcy within 60-90 days as a new, learner firm that has jettisoned its 27-billion-dollars in debt. The US government will take 60 per cent ownership and Canadian government 12 per cent. (dpa)