General Motors (GM) Corporation, the US-based largest automaker in the world, will launch a range of products based on hybrid technology in 2006, a top company official said here Tuesday.

Hybrid systems, cars and sports utility vehicles would be introduced in the global market next year followed by buses and pick-up trucks in 2007, said Lawrence D. Burns, GM's vice-president for research and development (R&D) and strategic planning.

"We are in the process of rolling out a wide range of hybrid products in the New Year. Though it constitutes just one percent of the total auto industry currently, it is an important market for us in view of its potential growth globally," Burns told here.

"Hybrid technology has immense benefits for GM as well as the auto industry. It is a technology that takes mechanical power from gasoline or diesel engines and electrical power from motors to drive the vehicles.

"The technology involves blending the electro-mechanical powers very carefully, requiring sophisticated controls. The Indian R&D centre in Bangalore is also associated with our hybrid projects involving scientific and engineering works for advance trials," Burns disclosed.

Research is underway in GM's R&D labs to develop quality controls and applications for hybrid engines that will enable GM to offer a variety of choices to customers in the passenger and transportation segments.

GM is also working on alternative fuels like hydrogen to design and manufacture products that are more eco-friendly, cost-effective and efficient.

"Around 98 percent of auto industry worldwide depends on petroleum energy, and the use of alternative fuels is still at a nascent stage. Their development is not in a robust position in the industry, as it involves working with multiple agencies like energy firms and government organisations.

"In the long-term, we see hydrogen as a good substitute to petro-based fuels since it can be derived from a variety of energy pathways such as fossil fuels, including coal and natural gas or renewable sources like wind, solar or geo-thermal," Burns said.

GM has already made a beginning in using ethanol and alcohol in its products as an alternative to petro-based fuels. The products are being manufactured in Brazil and Sweden.

Burns, who is visiting India for the first time, reviewed the progress being made by GM's India Science Lab (ISL), set up in 2003 with an upfront investment of $20 million and a team of 75-member scientific and engineering talent pool.

As one of GM's seven global R&D labs and the only of its kind located outside North America, ISL is a critical part of the company's global research network.