Shanghai, March 24 (Gasgoo.com) General Motors today unveiled a new concept car named EN-V in Shanghai, Reuters reported. GM hopes this car may help boost the company's eco-friendly image and better explore the clean-energy vehicle segment in China, now the world's biggest auto market.
GM showcased the "Electric Networked-Vehicle" (EN-V) at a pavilion that it will share with its China joint venture partner, SAIC Motor Corp, during the World Expo to be held in Shanghai from May through October.
The two-seater EN-V, about one-third the length of a standard passenger car, would be networked with other cars to help avoid accidents and ease traffic in congested major cities like Shanghai. GM is looking to the model to help establish itself as a major player in cutting-edge, fuel-efficient vehicles.
"In the EN-V we are really showing a new concept, for not just electrified vehicles but a reinvented vehicle experience for mega cities," Alan Taub, GM's vice president for global research and development, told reporters in Shanghai.
GM's choice of China to unveil the new concept car underscores the country's growing importance to global automakers. China is already GM's second-largest market after the United States, with the U.S. automaker's sales breaking records every month in 2009.
As the joint auto partners of Expo 2010, GM and SAIC are introducing their vision for urban transportation by 2030. The EN-V represents the reinvention of the automobile and is part of the technology solution to making such a vision a reality.
