GM Introduces Buick Hybrid in China; Second One Coming
January 22, 2008

General Motors introduced its first China-made hybrid car during a ceremony in  Shanghai Tuesday.

The Buick LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid is made by GM's joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.

Available at dealerships sometime this year, the LaCrosse hybrid model achieves fuel economy of 8.3 liters per 100 kilometers. In comparison, the non-hybrid version gets 9.8 liters/100 km, the statement said.

The GM-SAIC joint venture plans another hybrid, though a model and timeframe were not given.

Toyota began producing the Prius hybrid in China in 2005 through its joint venture with China FAW Group Corp.

GM and Toyota are betting that rising fuel prices and growing environmental awareness will convince drivers in the world's second-biggest auto market to buy more expensive hybrid cars. Last year, hybrids accounted for less than 0.03 percent of the country's 6.3 million passenger-cars sales, according to CSM Asia Ltd. as quoted by Bloomberg News.

"It doesn't make sense for consumers to buy a hybrid, if they can't really save that much,'' said Yale Zhang, a Shanghai- based CSM Asia director. "Still, it's a trend for overseas carmakers to start building hybrids in China, because it's in line with the government's directive to promote energy-efficient technologies.''

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