Geely's U.S. Plan Taking Shape

Geely Automobile Co.'s plan to sell vehicles in the U.S. market is moving ahead quickly, the company's U.S. official says.

John Harmer, vice president and chief operating officer-Geely U.S.A. Inc., says he is interviewing candidates for various positions with the Chinese auto maker, which plans to begin selling cars in the U.S. in fall 2008.

Harmer anticipates that in three months Geely will have a U.S. staff of eight-10 people, which will grow to 40-50 employees in a year's time.

Geely still is debating where to locate its U.S. headquarters, with Southern California a likely location, or possibly Detroit.

Geely became the first Chinese auto maker to display at the Detroit auto show and, following the auto show, commissioned a study of the public's reaction to the company.

“This study made it very clear to us that this issue of Chinese quality, Chinese reliability, is an issue we can't wait until the car is on the showroom floor to try to deal with,” he continues. “We've got to engage in a very proactive campaign before then.”

Following Geely's Detroit debut, Harmer says he was inundated with e-mails from more than 200 “high-quality” U.S. auto dealers interested in selling Geely cars.