GM Chevrolet Equinox being sold with Chinese-made engines

Shanghai, March 31, 2008 (Gasgoo.com) General Motors' popular car in North America, the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox, is now equipped with a Chinese-made V-6 engine, the Xinhua news agency said today, citing a New York Times report.

The 185-horsepower V-6 engine, the first powertrain in a U.S.-made vehicle imported from China, is reported to be powerful, smooth, and quiet, and will probably give the Equinox a cost edge over competing vehicles such as the RAV4 or the Jeep Liberty.

The report said that the arrival of this engine is one of the most important steps on China's long march to becoming an auto exporter.

"This is the first Chinese-made engine going into this market," said Eric A. Fedewa, vice president for powertrain forecasts at CSM Worldwide, an automotive analysis firm. "It was an experiment to see if G.M. could use its facility in China to take costs out of a vehicle."

The engine is built at Shanghai General Motors, a joint venture of G.M. and the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).

Last year, China exported more than $12 billion in auto parts, up from less than $2 billion in 2002 -- the majority to North America.