Chinese car introduced at auto show - "Li Shufu, chairman and founder of privately-held Geely, on Tuesday announced plans to sell a future version of the 7151 CK, a small sedan with a bare-bones interior, for less than $10,000 in the United States by 2008."
Toyota and Honda are mainstays in the U.S. now. Governor Granholm is courting Toyota to build one of their new non-union plants in Michigan. I'm guessing fewer disparaging "rice-burner" comments are thrown around today. But will a Chinese car sold in the U.S. hinder the progress made to end vehicle racism?
No truth to the rumor that the Geely car will be powered by green tea.
posted by jr to business at 6:40 P.M. EST
(1 Comment)
Comments ...
More pics, info, and comments at the autoblog:
* Biggest hurdle to entering U.S. is poor image of Chinese products here
* The fifth generation of the Geely 7151 CK (current third gen model pictured) will be the first model to enter the U.S. market
* The current C.K. doesn’t meet U.S. safety and emissions regulations, though the company will work to ensure it does during the next 18 mos.
* After U.S. regulations are met the company will focus on building a distribution network, mainly comprised of existing dealers. (Harmer said many dealers had already dropped off business cards at the show.)
* The CK (current or next gen wasn’t specified) will get 25mpg/city and 35mpg/hwy, as well as last for 10 years.
* Geely expects to sell 25,000 vehicles in its first year and 100,000 by the end of its fifth year in the U.S.
* The company will also enter the Canadian market after its cars are able to pass U.S. requirements
Some interesting notes about Geely:
* Shufu Li is the son of Chinese peasant farmers (very “rags to riches”/American Dream story)
* No government entity owns any part of Geely
* “Geely” is derived from Chinese phrase that means “I am lucky”
posted by jr at 06:45 P.M. EST on Tue Jan 10, 2006 #
Syndicate ToledoTalk
