As Americans’ appetite for gas-guzzlers has evaporated, General Motors may be closer to selling its Hummer brand, according to Reuters.

The struggling auto maker is in talks with Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian counterpart, as well as Russian and Chinese manufacturers, the news service reported citing unnamed sources. Mahindra has long been considered a potential buyer of the Hummer brand, given its desire to own a line of sport-utility vehicles.

It bid unsuccessfully for Ford Motor’s Jaguar and Land Rover brands, losing out to fellow Indian car maker Tata Motors.

But one of Reuters’s sources said that Mahindra may not be very interested, given its plans to unveil an S.U.V. under its own Scorpio marque next year. Talks between Mahindra and G.M. are in the very early stages, Reuters said, and the Indian company may seek assurances that G.M. will continue to supply products for several years.

As G.M. prepares to announce its latest quarterly results on Friday, analysts and investors expect the firm to suffer as badly as its Detroit rivals, Ford and privately owned Chrysler. G.M. has made no secret that it is seeking to sell the Hummer brand, one of the most potent symbols of fuel inefficiency as gas prices have risen sharply.

Given the Hummer’s poor fuel economy — in one configuration, it averages about 10 miles per gallon in the city and 15 on the highway — the brand’s sales in the United States has fallen 40 percent in the first half of this year, Reuters said. G.M. has idled or slowed work at its Hummer assembly plants to help dispose of its unsold cars.

Yet S.U.V.’s like Hummers remain status symbols in Russia and China, and the brand may hold allure as a trophy asset for buyers like Oleg Deripaska, who runs Russia’s GAZ.

Another buyer may be China’s SAIC Motor, that country’s largest auto maker and an existing business partner with G.M.