GM has an electric vehicle for large cities
March 24, 2010
General Motors unveiled Wednesday in China a new prototype electric car Smart cut for very large cities, in order to strengthen its image clean car manufacturer.
The FR-V, or "Networked-Electric Vehicle," will be presented in a pavilion that GM shared with its Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp. to the Expo to be held in Shanghai from May to October.
The two-seater, which can communicate with other cars to avoid accidents and smoother traffic in big cities like Shanghai, is still at the stage of development.
It should not be seen in motor shows before ten or twenty years and will require regulatory changes to enable them to move.
But the manufacturer of Detroit seeks, through this car-shaped helmet to emerge as a company at the forefront of technology and green vehicles, having narrowly escaped bankruptcy in 2009.
"With the FR-V we present a new concept, not only in the field of electric vehicles, but more broadly a driving experience reinvented for very large cities like Shanghai," Reuters said Alan Taub, vice president GM in charge of research and development worldwide.
The three versions of the FR-V can browse through their engine power about 40 kilometers without needing to be recharged.
Other major manufacturers such as Toyota and Nissan have developed similar concepts of eco-mobility, in order to hold targets increasingly strict in terms of CO2 emissions and to meet a growing consumer demand.
While GM tries to stand on own car segment, including offering the Chevrolet Volt hybrid to be introduced late 2010, the manufacturer has yet managed to sell its iconic brand vehicles very large consumers of fuel Hummer agreement with Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery had not been approved by Chinese authorities.
A VITAL MARKET FOR GM
The choice of GM unveiled its prototype in China said the U.S. manufacturer for the importance of this country which is the first global automotive market in which car sales broke records in 2009 despite the global crisis.
China is the second largest market for GM after the United States and represents a battleground for all manufacturers like Volkswagen and Toyota who are fighting to gain market share.
"China is a key market for GM, for today and tomorrow.Without the Chinese market, GM could not get out so fast the bankruptcy process, "said Zhang Xin, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities in Beijing.
In 2009, General Motors sold 1.83 million vehicles in the country, up 67%, and consistently beat his sales records for each month of 2010.
The company should sell more than two million vehicles in China this year, Reuters said Kevin Wale, CEO of GM China.
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