DETROIT --
Financial terms of the agreement between GM, the world's largest automaker, and its German-American rival weren't disclosed yesterday, but Tom Stephens, GM's group vice president for powertrains, said it likely will involve an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The first of the vehicles is scheduled to debut in 2007 -- when Toyota has said it hopes sales of its hybrids total several hundred thousand worldwide.
GM, which has worked with DaimlerChrysler on transmissions, has also said it considers hybrids a bridge to longer-range hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which require no fossil fuel and release no toxic emissions.
Hybrids draw power from two energy sources, typically a gas or diesel engine and an electric motor. Demand has grown worldwide because of concerns about the dangers of global warming, decreasing natural fuel supplies, and the rising cost of those fuels.
While GM and DaimlerChrysler clearly lag some rivals in hybrid offerings, the two automakers contend the codeveloped system will be more sophisticated than those currently on the market because it will use smaller motors and provide better fuel economy and towing capability at highway speeds.
The technology is derived from an advanced hybrid system developed by GM that's in use in transit buses in some US cities. In the Seattle area, for example, the 60-foot, mass-transit vehicles, which are more expensive than standard diesel buses, deliver up to 60 percent greater fuel economy and can reduce emissions by as much as 90 percent.
GM and DaimlerChrysler said the project will be open to other partners and may result in GM and DaimlerChrysler licensing hybrid technology to rivals.