It seems quite obvious that the introduced parallel hybrid concept will demand an increased vehicle system price, caused by the additional components and increased system complexity, although the most simple system design has been selected. This additional costs might be balanced by reduced fuel consumption over the lifetime, but the experience of the automotive market shows that such a line of reasoning is seldom considered by the final consumer. Therefore, basically the design of each new component will be aligned to cost reduction. Additionally it appeared during system design phase, that the modification of conventional drivetrain components may be utilized for cost reduction too. The combustion engine may be downsized, leading to reduced fuel consumption too, and peak torque ratings may be balanced by the electric drive. Also the gearbox may be simplified by dropping fifth and reverse gear as indicated. Finally the starter might be eliminated and substituted by an engine start employing the electric drive motor or by clutch operation during driving. But it is well known that one main point for success of innovations is an increase of value - in terms of performance, functionality or comfort - in relation to the effective additional costs. The introduced parallel hybrid offers several promising features, that will support this strategy: The driving performance, according to the established requirements, will be completely met or even surpassed. Especially the property of the electric drive, offering a peak torque at the low speed range may result in an efficient support of the combustion engine. The boost operation, achieved by torque addition of both drives, will show remarkable acceleration and the driving comfort will be increased, because a ''lazy shift behavior'' will be enabled. The drivetrain automation will support the driver at a high level. He will start to drive by the electric motor only and the combustion engine will be activated automatically if hybrid mode is preselected. The combustion engine may be stalled again during longer periods of floating operation. Pure electric driving ability will allow missions in critical surroundings (inner cities, for example). The environmental benefits already introduced by reduced emissions will be confirmed by real measurements on the demonstrators. All of the participating companies on this project are quite confident that will not only an innovative drivetrain with environmental benefits and improvements regarding the driving comfort arise, but also that the commercial requirements to enable market introduction will be successfully met.