GM chasing business in China with Chevrolet Volt

GM has business and political reasons for making the Chevrolet Volt a huge success and one way to pursue that is by expanding product reach. China is now the second largest economy in the world and as such it holds a strong allure for companies looking to pull in more profit amid recessions hitting other countries. GM isn’t waiting on that opportunity, it just announced the arrival of two Chevrolet Volts in China, which will act as shuttles for special guests to and from Shanghai’s Expo Park.

The Chevrolet Volt won’t be available for consumers in China until 2011, so this event is mainly for publicity which will create buzz and hopefully translates into product demand. It makes sense for GM to produce as many Chevrolet Volts as it can, in as many markets as possible now; before competitors build a vehicle that offers a similar value proposition.

Right now the Chevrolet Volt owns a leg up over other hybrid and electric vehicles because it offers the extremely efficient electric car feature, and it eliminates range anxiety with its ability to consume gasoline with an onboard generator. Something like the Toyota Prius certainly provides for a strong boost in efficiency over traditional combustion engine cars, but it doesn’t provide 40 miles without at least sipping gasoline. Of course, the Toyota Prius also doesn’t ever need to be plugged in which makes a difference for urban dwellers who don’t have ready access to an electrical outlet where they park.

GM is hoping to tip the scales further with access to its OnStar service, as well as a mobile application that will allow drivers to “. . . set the charge time, start their vehicle, track mileage, unlock doors and much more from a smartphone or home computer on a 24/7 basis,” according to the press release. That could be huge for a country like China that’s embraced mobile even more enthusiastically than the U.S.