General Motors Co. is developing an all-electric vehicle for the U.S. market, as it seeks to expand its lineup of battery-powered vehicles beyond the extended-range Chevrolet Volt that went on sale in December.
At the North American International Auto Show on Monday, GM CEO Daniel Akerson said an all-electric car would fill a niche separate from the Volt, which is an electric car with a back-up gasoline engine.
The all-electric car, he said, will be aimed primarily at drivers in big cities.
"It's more of a metro car or an urban car, where the extended-range electric vehicle, the Volt technology," offers much more flexibility, Akerson said.
The Detroit-based automaker debuted its 2012 Sonic subcompact Monday, as well as the new Buick compact called the Verano — two vehicles GM believes will better position the automaker to take on the challenges of rising gas prices and tougher federal fuel economy standards.
GM's North American president, Mark Reuss, made it clear what's driving the move.
"Forget about gas prices. The regulatory environment through 2016 is going to dictate what we do," he said.
"You got to plan your portfolio to be there from a CO2 greenhouse gas standpoint."
The Verano, the smallest car in Buick's line, gets about 22 mpg city and 31 mpg highway. GM has yet to release gas mileage figures for the Sonic, but GM officials say they expect it to achieve more than 40 mpg.
The Sonic, along with the Verano, start production later this year at Orion Assembly, and will go on sale shortly after.
Reuss touted the Sonic as the only small car built in the United States.
"Ford, Toyota and all the others build their small cars somewhere else," he said.
As GM seeks to improve fuel efficiency at home, it also is working to expand its electric car selection globally.
It plans to put pure-electric cars on the market in China, through its Chinese partner, SAIC, over the next two years -- a move spurred by the Chinese government's strong support for battery-powered vehicles, said Tim Lee, GM's president of international operations.
Those electric cars — subcompacts or smaller — eventually could come to the United States, he added.
The automaker also plans to export the Volt to China next year, Lee said.
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