The family-owned company, which sells Cadillac, Hummer, Buick, GMC, Oldsmobile and Subaru vehicles at four O'ahu locations, said it agreed to terminate its relationship with General Motors at the end of November and will permanently close the automobile dealerships.

"We have no other comments at this time except to say that we have been proud to serve as a GM dealer for over 70 years," the company said in a short statement.

The company declined to say whether anyone is expected to acquire Schuman Carriage's assets or operations.

In January, the company had asked some of its unionized employees for concessions in connection with an effort to sell its assets, according to a letter sent to workers.

At the time, one person close to the Schuman family said a sale was being explored.

Schuman Carriage was established as a horse-drawn buggy dealership in 1889 by Gustav A. Schuman, who came to Hawai'i from Germany in 1884 at the age of 16.

The company's founder became known as the "mule king" for his mule trading, and is credited with introducing the first rubber-tire buggy in Honolulu.

Over the decades as the company's showroom vehicles changed from carriages to Model T's to LaSalles to Hummers, the business passed from Gustav A. Schuman to his son, Gustav W. "Scotty" Schuman, who passed company control to his son, Gustav E. "Dutch" Schuman. Dutch Schuman is the company's chairman today. His son, Richard Schuman, is a director and heads service operations.

Last October, Schuman Carriage sold four NAPA auto parts stores and its NAPA Hawaiian Warehouse, which distributed parts to 36 mostly independently owned NAPA stores in Hawai'i and Samoa. The buyer was Atlanta-based Genuine Parts Co. Another NAPA store was sold to a Schuman manager.

Before the NAPA sales, Schuman Carriage's annual sales were estimated at $100 million.