MUNICH, Germany - BMW has announced that it is to join the partnership formed between General Motors and Daimler Chryslers to develop a two-mode hybrid system. It comes less than two weeks after GM and DC signed the contract they had originally announced in December.
"The creation of a shared technology platform will allow us more quickly to integrate the best technologies on the market," said Burkhard Goschel, BMW’s management board member with responsibility for development and procurement. "And because the technologies will be adapted to the individual models, the participating brands will retain their distinctive characters."
According to the original DC/GM agreement, the US-German company was to take the lead for rear-drive luxury cars while GM was to be responsible for developing the hybrid system to be used in trucks, SUVs, and front-drive cars and crossovers. It is not clear where BMW's responsibility will be.
The first vehicles to receive the systems in 2007 will be the Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon SUVs, while Dodge will follow soon after with the Durango.
|
