General Motors partners with Penske

General Motors Corp. is moving fast to become a bigger player in the world of diesel engines.

The automaker today announced plans to buy a 50 percent stake in VM Motori S.p.A., an Italian diesel engine maker owned by Bloomfield Hills-based Penske Corp.

The move comes a week after GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said the company is looking to bring diesel passenger cars and trucks to the U.S. market.

The pairing with Penske helps position GM to better compete for business in Europe and emerging markets such as China and India, where diesel technology widely used, said Dan Hancock, vice president of GM Powertrain's Global Engineering. GM is looking to target commercial vehicles, which account for about one-third of vehicles sold in those markets. Detroit News