GM China starts taking orders for Buick LaCrosse with fuel-saving feature
Shanghai General Motors Co. has begun taking orders for the Buick LaCrosse with eAssist, a system that integrates a small electric motor with a gasoline engine to boost acceleration and reduce fuel use.
The car will arrive Sept. 25 at Buick dealerships in 25 cities in China, GM China said in a statement.
A LaCrosse with eAssist and a 2.4-liter direct-injection engine will be priced at 265,900 yuan ($41,700). A LaCrosse without eAssist has a starting price of 221,900 yuan.
A key part of eAssist is stop-start technology, which automatically shuts down the engine when the vehicle stops. When the motorist presses the accelerator, the engine restarts.
When the vehicle accelerates, the engine gets a boost from a motor powered by a small lithium ion battery.
The LaCrosse with eAssist offers 20 percent better fuel economy than a standard LaCrosse, GM China said. In stop-and-go city driving, fuel economy may improve more than 30 percent, the company said.
In the first seven months of the year, Shanghai GM sold 66,352 standard LaCrosse units, up 10 percent from the year-ago period, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
