Coming soon: China autos

NINGBO, China — It was one of those awkward moments for an up-and-coming automaker: as an alarm sounded, workers in bright blue uniforms rushed to rebalance an auto body that had gone awry on the assembly line.

It may be still close to its humble beginnings, but Geely Group, a privately owned Chinese car manufacturer, has global ambitions.

Geely and fellow Chinese upstart Chery Automotive are gearing up for expansion overseas, having seen sales of their compact cars soar in China at a time of slowing growth for bigger automakers like Volkswagen and Toyota.

Geely's Merrie, Maple and Haoqing economy models already are sold in almost 30 countries in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. But the company, based in Ningbo, a port city south of Shanghai, is looking further West.

"We're planning to explore other markets in Europe. We're planning to export our cars to America," An Conghui, general manager of Zhejiang Geely Automobile Co., said during a tour of the company's main factory.

"Of course there are difficulties, but we can overcome them," An said. "Our goal is to meet the requirements of every market."

Geely confirmed last month that it was in preliminary talks to acquire molds and production equipment from MG Rover, though it said it had no intention of buying into the bankrupt British automaker.

The company also signed a memorandum of understanding this month with the Hong Kong Productivity Council, a government-run business promotion body, to begin research on development of a new car model in Hong Kong.

Geely's two mainland Chinese auto companies — Zhejiang Geely Automobile Co. and Shanghai Maple Guorun Automobile — sold 96,683 sedans in 2004, up 27 percent from 2003. It claims just over a 4 percent share of China's market for passenger cars. Geely models retail for between $3,600 and $9,600. Its top model, the Beauty Leopard sports car, sells for up to $17,000.

Until recently, China's vehicle exports were limited mainly to buses, trucks and farm vehicles sold to developing countries. But that is changing as automakers upgrade technology and expand production in hopes of competing internationally.

Geely exported 5,200 cars in 2004 and plans to more than double its exports this year to 12,000 units, An said. The company aims to eventually have two-thirds of its sales outside China.