General Motors Corp shows first hybrid vehicle

The first hybrid vehicle to be manufactured in Mexico for export to the United States and possible domestic sale in the future was finally shown.

Photo: General Motors Corp shows first hybrid vehicle

General Motors Corp shows first hybrid vehicle

The Saturn Vue, a medium-size sports utility vehicle that runs on both gasoline and electric power, has already rolled off the assembly line in the northern state of Coahuila and is being readied for export, GM officials said at a joint news conference with President Felipe Calderon.

The SUV will allow consumers to use an average of 27 percent less gasoline, General Motors de Mexico spokesman Mauricio Kuri said. The company will have the capacity to export about 6,500 of the vehicles a year, said Kevin Williams, president of GM's Mexico division.

GM will test 10 to 15 units of a slightly modified version of the SUV under the name Chevrolet Captiva Sport, and expects to determine if the vehicle can be sold in Mexico by mid-2008, Kuri said.

Altogether, GM has invested US$500 million (340 million EUR) to manufacture both the hybrid vehicles and gasoline versions of the Captiva Sport for sale in Mexico.