Geely looks a lot like Gigli.

Is there a connection?

B


Chinese Auto Manufacturer Geely to Enter the U.S. Market in 2008
Monday January 9, 8:00 am ET


DETROIT, Mich., Jan 9 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Mr. Shufu Li, Chairman of the Geely Automobile Company, of Hangzhou, China, announced today in Detroit that Geely is ''... on track to enter the United States automobile market in the year 2008. Our goal is to present to the American people another choice for the family sedan, a vehicle that possesses the highest quality but is available at the lowest price,'' said Mr. Li.
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Geely is the first domestic automobile manufacturer from China to participate in the annual Detroit Auto Show, organized and conducted by the Detroit Automobile Dealers Association. Each year the show attracts thousands of media reporters, automobile dealers from around the United States, and the general public. The presence of the first Chinese automobile manufacturer to ever participate in the show has given the 2006 show a very unique flavor.

Chairman Shufu Li is a remarkable version of the American story of a self made man who has brought himself up from poverty to great wealth. ''I am just the son of a Chinese peasant farmer,'' he will say, ''but I understand that hard work, determination, and courage in the face of enormous challenges will inevitably bring success.'' Mr. Li's remarkable journey from his birth as the son of a peasant farmer to becoming one of China's most noted and respected entrepreneurs is irrefutable testimony to the fact that indeed he understands the relationship between hard work, courage, and determination in order to achieve success.

The Geely saga goes from the humble beginning of manufacturing small simple refrigerators, bicycles, and motor scooters to the manufacture and sale of over one hundred thousand automobiles per year. Geely is unique among Chinese manufacturing enterprises in that no government entity has any ownership in Geely. ''We are a truly independent company,'' says Mr. Li. In his first press conference in the United States, held at the Detroit Auto Show, Mr. Li state, ''In 1996 we decided that we would enter the world of automobile manufacturing. We have faced many hardships along the way, but today I am pleased to announce that Geely will bring to the people of the United States a safe, high quality, family friendly automobile, that can be purchased for less than ten thousand dollars.''

At the Detroit Auto Show Geely put on display a five passenger sedan referred to as the ''7151 CK.'' Representatives of the company explained that this vehicle is the ''third generation'' of the model that is the mainstay of the Geely line. ''The automobile that we will bring to the United States will be the fifth generation of the 7151 CK,'' said Mr. Li. ''There will have been many improvements over the design and engineering that you see here,'' he said. Then with a smile he added, ''I also doubt that we will still be calling it by that name when it comes time to present the car to the American consumers.''

The name ''Geely'' is derived from a Chinese language phrase that means, ''I am lucky.' However, ''being lucky'' is not the way that Shufu Li arrived at the threshold of becoming a world-class automobile manufacturer. Throughout his business career he has combined vision with unyielding determination in order to produce success. He has carefully studied the success of the Korean and Japanese automobile manufacturers whose names are now well regarded throughout the world. He has also studied the mistakes of those companies that attempted to enter the U.S. market and failed. ''I know very well what mistakes others have made,'' he explains, ''and I have no intention of repeating those mistakes.''

Mr. Li makes it clear that he understands the enormity of the challenge he faces. His strategy is one of taking prudent and cautious steps from where he is now to where he expects to be by the year 2008. He refused to make any estimate of the number of vehicles that Geely will sell in the U.S. market in their first full year of competing with the legacy automobile manufacturers. Rather, his main focus for the near term is to complete the design, engineering, and manufacturing changes that will result in achieving his promise of a ''high quality, safe, and family friendly sedan that can be purchased for less than ten thousand dollars.''

Some critics have insisted that all of this is ''... an impossible fantasy,'' in response to those critics Mr. Li simply smiles and says, ''Well, that's what they told me when I started making those bicycles and motor scooters in an old garage in rural Zhejiang province. Today we have a dozen manufacturing facilities throughout southeast China. We know what it will take to succeed with this dream, and we are prepared to pay that price.''

Based on his past performance, it would not be wise to underestimate the capacity of this ''son of a Chinese peasant farmer.''

About Geely

Geely is a large privately run group mainly engaged in the manufacture and operation of automobiles and their spare parts. Founded in 1986, it has achieved brilliant accomplishments with automobiles, motorcycles, motor engines, gearboxes, spare parts, decorating materials, tourism and real estate. Its assets value at over RMB5 billion in total. Since Geely stepped into the automotive industry in 1987, it has grown to be a major brand in China's economic sedan cars due to its flexible operation mechanisms and continuous conceptual innovation. In 2003, it was ranked No. 331 among the nationwide top 500 enterprises in terms of operational scale and No. 25 of the ''Top hundred enterprises in Zhejiang Province,'' and was appraised as one of the ''most rapidly developed enterprises with the best growth in China's automobile industry over the past 50 years.' ' As a result, it has achieved the mainstream patter of ''3+6'' that is a characteristic of domestic auto manufacturers.

Geely is located in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province with 4 manufacturing bases in Linhai, Ningbo, Taizhou and Shanghai that specialize in production of units of cars and auto spare parts. Now, Geely is able to manufacture 200,000 units of cars, 200,000 engines and 150,000 gear boxes annually. New projects become ready for production in Ningbo, Taizhou and Shanghai. Geely's production capability is estimated to increase to 300,000 units of cars per year and 300,000 engines per year.


For Further Information Contact:

Ms. Wei Qu
Geely International Corporation
Tel: +86-21-5308-6111 x210
Email: wei@geely.com

http://geely.com/english/index.htm

hey intelligent get a kick out of that.. looks kinda like that one korean car.. 124 ish

That Geely hood looks like it was copied from a W202 or 140.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

o god.. it looks like it was spray painted

They probably power it with one of the coil suspension springs from that Cadillac like they do on Junk Yard Wars. I wonder what they use for a wind up mechanism.

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1983 300-D turbo
1985 300-D turbo
1959 Harley Panhead chopper
1929 Ford coupe restored
I hang out with Boneheaddoctor at Schuman Automotive OBK#5
All liberals are mattoids but not all mattoids are liberal.

It does look like a W202 doesn't it. That's pretty sad. I wonder if Wal-mart will start selling it.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Boy, Everyone copies Mercedes! I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those! I hope they go under before 2008, thier cars look like CRAP!

Perhaps many of our members are too young to remember the original Honda Civic that first arrived here about 30 years ago. It too was an ugly ducking; maybe someone can find a photo. Many of us laughed and made derisive comments. Now it is very hard to find a better product across the entire line: Civic to Acura. I'll bet it won't take the Chinese 30 years. Be afraid.
regards,
Mark

At least Honda didn't copy anyone's design as far as I know. I hate copy cats.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

My '78 Civic CVCC was my favorite car ever wish I could find one now. But yeah that Geely is butt ugly.

As I opined in my post to the Diesel forum (sorry, no linkee), a copy of the W124 by (in that case, Korean) manufacturers may make W124 parts and mods more available for a longer time. The key for me is in the engineering and metallurgy. If they do it right this could extend the life of the older Benzes, don't you think?

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CVCC means Compound vortex controlled combustion. The CVCC engine debuted in 1975. Offered alongside the standard Civic engine, the 53-horsepower CVCC engine displaced 1,488 cc and had a head design that promoted cleaner, more efficient combustion. The CVCC design eliminated a need for a catalytic converter or unleaded fuel to meet emissions standards. (Nearly every other U.S. market car for this year underwent the change to exhaust catalysts and the requirement to use only unleaded fuel.) Due to California's stricter emissions standards, only the Civic CVCC was available in that state. A five-speed manual gearbox became available this year, as did a Civic station wagon (only with the CVCC engine). A CVCC engine has a special cylinder head. The CVCC head uses a stratified charge combustion chamber. A stratified combustion mixture is richer at the sparkplug and much leaner at the main part of the combustion chamber. The rich mixture is easily ignited by the sparkplug and this initial flame will ignite the remaining leaner mixture. The CVCC head uses a pe-combustion chamber that is about the size of a thimble. The CVCC carb is actually two carbs in one, a lean part and a rich part. The lean part feeds the main combustion chamber and the rich part feeds the pre-combustion chamber. The rich mixture in the pre-combustion chamber is ignited . A "flame hole" in the pre-combustion chamber allows the pre-combustion flame to blow across the regular combustion chamber and ignite the lean mixture. 73-79 Chassis code was designated SB 75 CVCC: introduced as a way around stricter emissions 76-79 CVCC: engine was revised internally, producing slightly more power and smoother running The 75-79 CVCC was the only first gen engine equipped with a 5spd transmission The CVCC's are longer in the nose to accommodate the slightly larger motor (2.17" to be exact) 73-79 Civics did not have trim level specifications but were differentiated by their motor types.

The L700 was introduced in October 1965 and was a commercial vehicle. Like the T series, it was based on the S series driveline. The engines were basically enlarged 687cc S600 engines that were fed by two side-draft carburetors and produced 52 horsepower. This model utilized a four speed, manual transmission with a steering column mounted shifter. The L700 station wagon (Honda referred to it as a "light van") was available in two trim levels; the basic LA700, and the better appointed LM700.

In March, 1967 the Honda N 360 arrived. A front-wheel-drive 2-door sedan with a wheelbase of 200 cm, and a light-alloy OHC air-cooled 2-cylinder 354 cc engine with 31 HP. The rear axle was rigid with leaf springs. In June, 1967 a 2-door wagon was added, called Honda LN 360. In October, 1968 the N 360 T (later called Touring) was released with a 36 HP twin carburettor engine (9000 rpm). In 1969 a version with a 402 cc engine was produced and called the Honda N 400. By January, 1970 the cars were renamed Honda N III 360 and Honda LN III 360.

These were all two door with a trunk, and first sold in Hawaii in 1969. In 1970 they were imported to California and elsewhere. Sticker price was $1295.00 or so. Early cars up to mid year 1971 were all non synchromesh transmission. When the new features were added so was a fully synchromesh transmission. New features for sedan included: chrome outer body strips, deluxe interior with chrome trim, retractable seat belts, and seat belt buzzer.




The N800 (not to be confused with the N600, with which it shared absolutely nothing in common) was only a prototype. It shared the L800 / P800 driveline, was also shown along with its S, L, and P sisters and brothers at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show, but was never produced.