18 August 2010 - General Motors Co. and SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. (SAIC Motor) are expanding their partnership to develop a new small-displacement gasoline engine family and an advanced transmission. The agreement, signed today in Shanghai by GM Vice Chairman of Global Product Operations Tom Stephens and SAIC President Chen Hong, represents a significant milestone that expands GM and SAIC’s relationship into powertrain development. It’s another key step in providing propulsion solutions to build the world’s best vehicles.
General Motors has reached an agreement with one of its primary Chinese partners, Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp. (SAIC), on the joint development of powertrains for small vehicles.
GM and SAIC will develop and produce a family of four-cylinder engines ranging from 1.0- to 1.5-liters with direct injection and turbocharging. The GTDI engines should cut fuel consumption by around 20 percent compared to similarly-sized engines with equivalent output.
The engine will be used in GM and SAIC vehicles in China and around the world, and to go along with the new engine, the partners will also develop a small dual-clutch transmission that should provide a 10 percent boost in efficiency over current six-speed torque converter automatics. Work on the engine and transmission will occur at GM's powertrain engineering center in Pontiac, MI and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center in Shanghai.
GM has yet to announced when the new powertrains will debut in production, but mid-2011 is a safe bet.
"These development agreements open an exciting new chapter in the partnership between SAIC and GM," said Hu Maoyuan, Chairman of SAIC Motor. "Not only will they add critical green technologies to our next-generation vehicles, they will also build on the strong engineering capabilities forged as a part of GM and SAIC's corporate responsibility."
About General Motors: General Motors, one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 208,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 157 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors acquired operations from General Motors Corp. on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corp. More information on the new General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.
About SAIC Motor: SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. (securities code 600104 SH, “SAIC Motor” for short) is the largest listed vehicle company in the Chinese A-share stock market. In 2009, SAIC Motor sold more than 2.72 million vehicles, continuing its leading position among major automotive groups in China. The main businesses of the corporation include R&D, production and sales of vehicles (including passenger and commercial vehicles) and components (including powertrains, chassis, electronics and electric parts) that are closely related with vehicle development, as well as the automotive finance business.
Source: General Motors
