General Motors Corp will build hybrid cars in China from 2008 in time for the Beijing Olympics next August, Automotive News said, citing Martin Murray, the car maker's manager of Asia-Pacific hybrid engineering.

The cars will have GM's four-cylinder Ecotec engine, which is made in China, the report said. The auto maker hasn't said which models it will make in the country and when they will go on sale, Auto News added. Murray wouldn't specify how many vehicles will be built, it said.

Toyota Motor Corp's Prius, the only hybrid assembled in China, went into production in December 2005. Hybrids use gasoline or diesel engines and electric motors to power the wheels, Auto News said.

(Shanghai Daily November 29, 2007)