GM to Introduce Buick LaCrosse Hybrid in China
April 18, 2008
By Michelle Krebs
Chinese production of the hybrid LaCrosse begins in June with sales following in July. Specifications on the car, which likely uses the same hybrid system as the U.S.-sold Chevrolet Malibu and Saturn Aura hybrids, will be disclosed at GM's auto show press conference Sunday. They did say the LaCrosse hybrid achieves fuel efficiency 15 percent better than the non-hybrid LaCrosse sold here with 15 percent lower emissins. Price has not been revealed though it will be higher than the non-hybrid model.
The hybrid LaCrosse is part of a grander GM scheme to go green in China, which if confronted with energy and environmental issues of monumental proportions.
Also as part of that plan, GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner partcipated in the opening of the China Automotive Energy Research Center at Tsinghua University in Beijing Saturday morning on the eve of the opening of the Beijing auto show.
The center is a joint effort of GM, its Chinese partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Group and the university to do research into automotive energy in China and support the development of a national automotive energy strategy specifically for China.
GM also will begin selling the Cadillac Escalade with the 2-Mode hybrid, a technology developed by GM with BMW and Daimler, next year in China. China will be one of the world's first major markets to sell the Chevrolet Volt after its U.S. launch, targeted for some time in 2010. In addition, China will sell other models that use the Volt's E-Flex range-extending technology, like the Cadillac Provoq on display at the Beijing show that uses fuel cells instead of a gasoline engine on the Volt. GM will continue fuel cell work by putting demonstration fleets in operation in China.
GM executives here admit they don't know how big the hybrid market is but they expect buyers to be government officials as well as private citizens. They said the automaker is introducing the hybrid, in part, to prompt the Chinese government to establish incentives to manufacturers making "green" vehicles and consumers who buy them.
GM's five-year Driving Green program in China also sets "green" standards for suppliers from whom GM buys parts. About 40 suppliers meet those standards now; 150 are expected to meet them by 2012. Those standards include recycling parts and waste as well as re-use of water. GM is developing green standards for its dealers in China as well.
Photo: Buick LaCrosse hybrid (courtesy General Motors Corp.)
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