SHANGHAI, China (AP) – General Motors Corp. intends to keep investing in China's fast-growing market, and it is confident its sales are still outpacing the industry average, GM's chairman Rick Wagoner said Monday.
''We are willing to invest ahead of demand here because we are very bullish that demand is going to keep growing here,'' Wagoner told reporters after taking a ceremonial spin, with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, in GM's hydrogen fuel cell-powered Sequel.
GM's sales jumped 36.7 percent in the first three quarters of this year, helped by strong demand for newly launched models such as the Buick LaCrosse.
Wagoner said GM expects its sales growth in China this year to outpace the industry average of about 20 percent.
China and other overseas factories accounted for more than half of GM's total output of 9.2 million vehicles last year, Wagoner said. The company says its total production will remain at about that level this year.
Shanghai GM, the company's joint venture with local partner Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp., plans to begin manufacturing hybrid gas-and-electric powered vehicles by 2008, part of the effort to shift into next-generation technologies that might help reduce the environmental impact of growing vehicle use among the 1.3 billion Chinese.
Ultimately, GM is betting on hydrogen fuel-cell technology such as that used in the Sequel, which looks like a minivan and has a range of 300 miles.
''We believe fuel cell vehicles offer the best long-term solution for meeting the world's growing demand for automobiles in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner,'' Wagoner said.
Still, the vehicle is far from ready for commercial use, Wagoner acknowledged.
Nearly all the world's major automakers are testing hydrogen-powered vehicles, with some in use by government workers.
The pollution-free technology holds the potential of zero emissions and a sustainable source of energy produced when hydrogen and oxygen are mixed. Experts say they could begin arriving in showrooms by 2020, or perhaps earlier.
But many obstacles exist, including the high cost, relatively short range and a lack of fueling stations.
GM has managed to reduce costs for making the Sequel by 12 times, but still needs to reduce them by seven times more to make it competitive, Wagoner said.
And automakers need help from governments in developing the infrastructure for hydrogen fueling, he said.
''Developing new technologies is really a team sport that requires business and governments to work together,'' he said. ''It's doable, it's not that expensive, but it's going to require some work.''