GM, SAIC unveil electric car

US carmaker General Motors (GM; GM.NYSE) and China’s SAIC Motor (600104.SH) unveiled a mainland-developed electric car Thursday at the Guangzhou autoshow, Reuters reported. The Sail Springo EV, with a starting price of US$41,400 (RMB258,000), has a top speed of 130 kilometers per hour and can travel up to 130 to 200 kilometers on a charge. At first, it will only available at GM’s Shanghai vendors. The launch of the Sail model is part of GM’s wider eco-friendly car strategy in the world’s biggest auto market. Beijing introduced a policy to increase the number of eco-friendly cars on the road to 5 million by 2020, which has spurred carmakers to explore the potential of electric and plug-in hybrids. Two weeks ago SAIC rolled out its Roewe E50 electric car, costing roughly US$37,700. GM launched a plug-in hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt, earlier this year in China.