General Motors Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG are investing more than $1 billion combined on a shared gasoline-electric system for autos that will compete with hybrid segment leader Toyota Motor Corp., Bloomberg reported last Thursday. The first models using technology developed for the hybrids will be versions of GM's Yukon and Tahoe sport-utility vehicles, due in 2007, said Larry Nitz, head of GM's hybrid program. Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler's U.S. unit, will sell a hybrid Durango SUV in 2008, followed by BMW models within three to five years, the companies said. Toyota, which began selling the Prius in Japan in 1997, to date has sold more than 600,000 hybrids worldwide, and this year through July sold 73% of the 137,213 such vehicles purchased in the United States, Bloomberg said. The cost of the jointly developed system includes at least $300 million for a transmission, said Andreas Truckenbrodt, executive director of DaimlerChrysler's hybrid program. The vehicles save fuel and reduce emissions by combining a gasoline engine, a battery pack and brakes that capture energy from stopping. Those components add about $3,000 to the retail price of such vehicles, Bloomberg said. L&MT
