Friday, August 26, 2005

DCX, GM finalize joint hybrid project

The Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Dodge Durango will be first vehicles unveiled in pact.

Detroit News staff and wire reports

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DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG have signed a definitive agreement to jointly develop fuel-saving hybrid engines in hopes of cashing in on an expanding market now dominated by hybrid leaders Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

Under the agreement announced in December and formalized Monday, GM will be the lead designer of hybrid engines for rear-wheel- and all-wheel-drive full-size trucks and sport utility vehicles, and front-wheel-drive cars and crossover vehicles. DaimlerChrysler will be the lead designer of hybrid engines for rear-wheel-drive luxury cars.

The Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon will be the first GM vehicles powered by the newly developed hybrids, said Tom Stephens, GM's group vice president for powertrains. DaimlerChrysler will debut with a hybrid-powered Dodge Durango SUV, he said.

The Tahoe and Yukon hybrids are scheduled to debut in 2007, when Toyota has said it hopes sales of its hybrid models total several hundred thousand worldwide.

Although hybrids overall make up only a minute percentage of global auto sales, Stephens said in December that some analysts believe hybrids eventually could account for 5 percent to 15 percent of global volume.

Hybrids draw power from two energy sources, typically a gas or diesel engine combined with an electric motor. Demand has grown worldwide because of concerns about the dangers of global warming, decreasing natural fuel supplies and the rising cost of those fuels.