http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosinsider/0304/25/autos-147156.htmexcerpt:
Geely and Chinese rival SAIC Chery Automobile Co. expect sales to double in 2003, gaining on bigger foreign rivals such as Toyota, Volkswagen AG and General Motors Corp. They are succeeding in the world's fastest-growing car market by adapting foreign designs and technology to make cheaper cars than their rivals. The downside is they're getting into legal trouble.
Toyota said it sued Geely in the Beijing Intermediate People's Court in December for infringing on its trademark and designs, the first suit of its kind in China's car industry. General Motors, the world's biggest carmaker, is investigating whether Chery copied the design of its new Spark minicar, Phil Murtaugh, GM's China chairman, said in an interview before this week's Auto Shanghai 2003 trade show.
Local carmakers say borrowing ideas from overseas competitors accounts for part of their success.
"Our competitive strategy is to adapt the experience of foreign carmakers to China's local conditions," said Chery General Manager Sun Yong in an interview at the auto show, where the company introduced a new sedan. "We sell cars at less than 100,000 yuan each, a price that's more affordable to the vast majority of Chinese buyers."
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Even so, General Motors -- which has invested more than $1.5 billion in China since 1997 -- spends "billions of dollars" each year designing new products, said Murtaugh, who's based in Shanghai. Part of that investment is lost when rivals copy GM models.
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and here's another tidbit:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A38899-2004Mar7excerpt:
More than 2 million passenger cars were sold in China last year, an increase of more than 80 percent from the year before, according to the State Information Center. China is now the single fastest-growing auto market in the world, and the second largest in Asia after Japan.
"Every year, we keep saying, 'Well, there's no way we can have a repeat performance of last year,' and every year we're wrong," said Phil Murtagh, who oversees General Motors Corp.'s operations in China. "We're seeing the beginnings of a car culture."