Reply #10: China carmaker to build in U.S.

[ozymandius]

DETROIT -- Can the mystique of a British sports car be recreated by a Chinese company in America's heartland?

That's the bet by Nanjing Automobile Group, which plans to resurrect the fabled MG Marque in a tri-continental demonstration of how truly globalized the automotive industry has become.

Nanjing, which purchased the assets of the bankrupt MG Rover Group last year, aims to be the first Chinese carmaker to open a factory in the United States. The company has scheduled a news conference for today in Oklahoma to announce plans to build a newly designed MG TF Coupe there starting in 2008. It said the coupe would compete with cars like the Mazda Miata, which sells for between $20,000 and $25,000.

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Several Chinese carmakers have said they are two to three years away from exporting vehicles to the United States. One, Geely Automobile, displayed a $10,000 sedan at this year's Detroit auto show, although the car fell short of American safety and emissions standards.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060712/AUTO01/607120418/1148