General Motors Co. will begin exporting Chevrolet Volt battery-powered cars late next year, and plans to hire 1,000 engineers and researchers in Michigan to expand development of electric vehicles and hybrids, the company's chief executive said Tuesday.
"We will see the electrification of cars in every segment and every model in some form over the next 10 years," CEO Daniel Akerson said at GM's Hamtramck plant to mark the official launch of the heavily promoted Volt. "This is just the beginning. Some day someone may look at this car and say, 'Isn't it quaint?'"
GM said it plans to add the 1,000 engineering and research jobs at Michigan locations over the next two years—good news for a state that lost tens of thousands of jobs over the last several years in the auto industry's downturn.
GM's North America operations employed 105,000 people at the end of June, an increase over the 102,000 at the end of 2009 but far below the 139,000 the company employed in 2007.
The Volt will be available to a small number of individual car-buyers starting in December. GM plans to expand sales next year, first to selected markets around the U.S., and eventually nationwide.
Mr. Akerson didn't specify which countries the Volt would be exported to, or how many would be exported. GM has previously said the car would be sold in Europe as both the Chevrolet Volt and the Opel Ampera. It will also be sold in Australia, said GM's North American head, Mark Reuss.
GM has a great deal riding on the vehicle. It is counting on the Volt to counter rival Toyota Motor Corp., the maker of the Prius gas-electric hybrid, in advanced automotive technology. GM is also hoping the Volt will shore up consumer perceptions about the company, said Robert Lutz, GM's retired head of new-model development.
"GM's biggest challenge is its reputation," Mr. Lutz said at the Hamtramck event. "And the Volt will go a long way toward changing minds in California, New York and elsewhere on what GM is all about."
Unlike pure electric cars such as the coming Leaf from Nissan Motor Co., the Volt operates for a certain distance on battery power, then a gasoline engine kicks in to drive a generator that creates electricity to keep the car going.
The Volt and the Leaf, also due to begin arriving in U.S. dealerships this month, are two of more than 20 electric vehicles set to be launched over the next three years.
To boost their chances, the Obama administration is spending more than $5 billion on tax credits to buyers and subsidized loans and grants to auto makers and others, with the goal of getting one million plug-in hybrids or all-electric cars on U.S. roads within five years.
