Humble Beginnings

Attracting a huge crowd at Detroit's Cobo Center, Geely Automobile Co. becomes the first Chinese auto maker to hold a press conference at the Detroit auto show.

Geely says it plans to begin selling cars in North America “at the end of 2008.” The company told Ward's it planned to sell cars in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in 2008 and likely would enter the North American mainland in 2009.

John Harmer, vice president-Geely U.S.A. Inc., says Geely's plans are rather modest for its first full sales year in the U.S. at 25,000 units. After five years, Harmer pegs Geely's U.S. sales at 100,000 units.

He says it will be 18 months before Geely vehicles, some of which already have been sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will meet U.S. regulations.

The car Geely displayed, the 7151 CK, is the predecessor to the model it plans to sell in the U.S., executives say.

Asked why the initial vehicle, priced below $10,000, is a better choice than some of the other low-priced subcompacts seen at the Detroit show, Harmer says it will be basic transportation, free of frills.

Predictably, no vehicle at the show was groped more intimately than the CK.

Consultant Clarence Peplar of North Carolina was impressed by Geely's cost-efficient approach to interiors. The 7151 CK featured bottom-of-the barrel carpeting, but top-of-the-line, reversible floor mats.