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GM opens alternative fuel lab in China
US car maker General Motors (GM) has announced plans to open a research lab in Shanghai to develop cars powered by alternative fuels, including biofuel, fuel cells and hybrids. Partner will be local car making giant, SAIC Motor Corp.
The research lab, to be named GM Center for Advanced Science & Research, is part of a new US$250 million GM campus in Shanghai, the first phase of which is to be completed in 2008.
GM and SAIC will also jointly offer a research grant of US$5 million in the next five years towards clean energy research at Tsinghua University, China's top university.
Oil prices
GM Research takes a new direction. Photo: Csaba Moldován
The move comes at a time when rising crude oil prices worldwide have fuel prices in China increase substantially. Many local car makers, such as Chery, Geely and Changan, are already developing alternative-fuel vehicles.
Dash
GM are not the only major car maker making a dash for China. The country is expected to surpass the US as the world's largest car market in the next 10 years.
Earlier this year, Chrysler announced it was on the look out for mass production partners in China, while Ford has announced research alliances with two of the country’s most prestigious universities, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Shanghai Jiaotong University.
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