The largest US automaker General Motors Co. (GM) will introduce a plug-in hybrid Buick crossover vehicle in 2011, the company said on Thursday.

Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman of product development, made the announcement during a seminar at Traverse City in Michigan state.

According to a Detroit News report, the vehicle will be delivered to the Energy Department for fleet testing in early 2011 and will go on sale to retail customers later that year.

The company said the yet-to-be-named Buick crossover will launch in late 2010 with a direct-injected gasoline engine, followed in 2011 by the plug-in hybrid model.

"Buick will get our first plug-in hybrid, which will put the brand front and center, in the advanced technology game," Stephens said.

GM is also expected to announce in August that it is building a US$43-million lithium-ion battery plant in Brownstown Township, about 20 km south of the auto city of Detroit, creating about 600 jobs.

(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2009)