GM to Build Hybrid Cars in China in 2008

28 November 2007

Automotive News China reports that GM will produce a hybrid car in China beginning in 2008, and available in time for the Beijing Olympics. The launch date and model have not been announced.

In 2006, Steve Tarnowsky, Assistant Chief Engineer for GM Powertrain Hybrids, said in a talk given at the SAE Hybrid Vehicle Technologies Symposium 2006, that GM planned to deploy the GM Hybrid System (Belt Alternator Starter) used in the Malibu Hybrid on a sedan in China. (Earlier post.)

Despite the small sales [of hybrids in China], GM doesn’t “want to be lagging behind Toyota,” says Harry Zhao, China powertrain analyst for CSM Worldwide. “They want to prove to the Chinese customers and government that they have” hybrid technology.

CSM forecasts that only 14,000 hybrid powertrains annually will be produced in China by 2013. The biggest barrier to hybrid sales in China is cost, Zhao says.

CSM forecasts that eight hybrid models will be available in China next year. CSM’s Zhao says that by 2013, more than 10 hybrid models will be available in China.

Other automakers in China are planning to launch hybrid models over the next few years; SAIC, for example, had a hybrid concept car on display—along with fuel cell vehicle prototypes—at the China International Industry Fair 2007 in November in Shanghai.

The “Shanghai brand” hybrid car is Euro 6 compliant, and offers a 25% improvement in fuel economy compared to a comparable conventional vehicle.