Free Republic

SHANGHAI, China - With models like the Hover and Roewe, Chinese-brand cars aren't household names in the U.S. and other big markets — not yet, at least. But Chinese upstart automakers with equally obscure names such as Chery, Geely and SAIC are challenging industry leaders like General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota in the fast-growing China market. And they're making inroads throughout the developing world with an eye toward eventually breaking into big Western markets. China's homegrown automakers vie for attention with global giants like GM at the April 22-28 Shanghai Auto Show, a biennial event that will showcase China's phenomenal...

Feb 12, 2005 SPEAKING FREELY Betting on the next Lenovo By George Zhibin Gu Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. December 2004 will be remembered as a time when a faceless Chinese company, Lenovo, suddenly took the global stage. The bluest of blue-chip multinationals, IBM, got out of its personal computer business by selling out to Lenovo, making the faceless company the third-biggest global PC player. So are there other Chinese brands that could take the world by storm? A rising...