China’s automobile sales rose each month during the first quarter of 2009, and after a strong 2008 in which sales of private cars were up 28%, experts agree that the fifteen-month trend is a harbinger of things to come. China’s luxury car market is forecast to grow at double-digit rates for the remainder of this year, and the government is using tax incentives to drive the sales of smaller cars and light trucks which will appeal to lower income families.
To meet the demand of manufacturers for fuel efficient/low emission engines, China’s Aerospace Machinery and Electric Equipment Co. Ltd.
(AMEC) is collaborating with Turbine Truck Engines, a United States technology company, to develop the patented Detonation Cycle Gas Turbine engine (DCGT). Once developed, AMEC intends to produce 150 and 450 horsepower versions of the engine, and the companies expect each engine model will reduce fuel consumption by about one-third and dramatically reduce harmful emissions when compared to existing fossil-fuel burning engines.
TTE has also entered into a strategic alliance with Tianjin Out Sky Technology Co., Ltd. (Tianjin), a leading Chinese bicycle parts manufacturer, to develop the DCGT for the motorcycle market. Researchers expect over 44,000,000 two wheel, mechanically powered personal transportation units will be sold in China in 2011.
Michael Rouse, President and CEO of TTE, has returned to China for high-level meetings with AMEC and Tianjin officials, and he observed, “These and other initiatives are part of China’s effort to produce energy efficient vehicles for what is destined to become the world’s largest personal transportation market. We are excited about the role the DCGT may play in the industrialization of a great nation.”
WORLD LEADER IN INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS PARTNERS WITH INNOVATIVE NEW ROBOTICS SOFTWARE COMPANY
