GM to be first to build hybrid car in Canada

TORONTO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - General Motors of Canada (GM.N) said on Tuesday it will be the first automaker to build hybrid vehicles in Canada and expects hybrid versions of some of its pickup trucks to hit the market next year.

GM Canada, the country's biggest automaker, said its Oshawa Truck Assembly Plant in Ontario will produce the new Two-Mode Hybrid Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, which are set to roll onto showroom floors in the fall of 2008.

Hybrids, which couple a traditional internal combustion engine with a battery to allow for lower gasoline use, have gained popularity among environmentally conscious consumers, in part due to higher gasoline prices.

GM Canada, which has been rapidly losing market share, is coming off a 7.7 percent drop in auto sales in 2006 as vehicle sales fell to 421,299 units.

Last February, Ford Motor Co. of Canada (F.N) unveiled plans to build hybrid versions of two crossover sport utility vehicles by 2010 as part of its effort to ramp up hybrid production ten-fold to 250,000 a year.

Ford Canada said hybrid production was scheduled to begin by 2010 at its Oakville, Ontario, plant.

((Reporting by Frank Pingue, editing by Peter Galloway; Reuters Messaging: frank.pingue.reuters.com@reuters.net, +1 416 941-8094)) Keywords: GMCANADA HYBRID/

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