China's state-owned Changan Automobile Group will start manufacturing a hybrid vehicle next year.
It will be a first for Chinese automakers.
The car will:
1. be a 2-liter compact wagon
2. consume 20% less energy than its standard equivalent.
3. have a fuel efficiency of 100km on 6.8 liters of gasoline. (35mpg)
4. be close in size to Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius.
Toyota has been assembling and selling its Prius in China since late 2005.
However, sales of the Toyota hybrid in China were down 86% in the first 10 months of 2007, selling just 299 units.
The Y300,000 price has a lot to do with the lack of popularity.
Changan's new offering will cost about half that - Y150,000 yuan, roughly Y20,000 more than the base vehicle.
Price maybe, but do you think Changan can compete with Toyota in quality, too?
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