October 1, 2007 7:31 AM

Abdullah A. Bazzi is manager of the Dodge hybrid vehicle program and a frequent contributor to the Dodge brand blog.

The car business is about delivering what customers want. So, it’s no surprise that maintaining a lead role in the Chrysler/Daimler/GM/BMW hybrid program has been emotionally captivating for me. This jointly developed cooperation is not only an engineering marvel, but also gives one a sense of relentless achievement. The products that we’ll be creating in this office will propel our industry and our world into the next century. How could you not be excited to walk through the office door each morning?

I measure success by the end result — a successful launch of the Durango hybrid and Chrysler Aspen hybrid next year, each delivering around a 40 percent improvement in city mileage and 25 percent improvement in combined highway and city mileage. We’re aiming to give consumers more miles to the gallon through the next generation of hybrid technology. And that’s what I’m working every day to achieve.

Recently, I took a trip to an assembly plant in Texas where GM builds hybrid SUVs. At almost any other time, a Dodge employee looking around a GM plant would have led to guards being called and, likely, some physical discomfort for the intruder. But this time around, we’re working together. And it’s an incredibly open process. Not to sound cynical, but hey … this is really working out better than we could have expected.

The trip included members from Chrysler’s manufacturing organization, as well as, colleagues from Mercedes-Benz and BMW; a true example of co-opetition. We discussed issues of common interest and found appropriate solutions. I can say with certainty that what we learned from our partners will increase the efficiency and speed to production for the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango hybrids next year. Soon, we’ll be launching the first phase of the Dodge Durango Hybrid at Chrysler’s Newark Assembly Plant in Deaware. I’m looking forward to sharing the experience with my colleagues as they have done for me.

Editor's Note: Here's an explanation of our state-of-the-art full hybrid system, whose components are being co-developed by General Motors Corp., Chrysler and the BMW Group for production beginning next year. This hybrid represents a major automotive industry milestone due to the unprecedented fully integrated combination of electric motors with a fixed-gear transmission. As a result of its low- and high-speed electric continuously variable transmission (ECVT) modes, the system is commonly referred to as the two-mode hybrid. However, the sophisticated fuel-saving system also incorporates four fixed gear ratios for high efficiency and power-handling capabilities in a broad variety of vehicle applications. During the two ECVT modes and four fixed gear operations, the hybrid system can use the electric motors for boosting and regenerative braking. The full hybrid system has an overall mechanical content and size similar to a conventional automatic transmission, yet this full hybrid transmission can operate in infinitely variable gear ratios or one of the four fixed-gear ratios.