This was followed by deals made by private enterprises like Lenovo and, more recently, Geely.
He should: there are 19 Geely models on the proposed list of approved vehicles.
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Geely chairman Li Shufu said the centre would help Geely improve the quality of its cars.
Geely shipped 483, 483 vehicles last year, an increase of 15% from 2012, the company said.
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But China's own brands - like Anhui-based Geely and Zhejiang-based Chery - are gaining ground.
That will limit competition, helping BYD and other small, hungry Chinese auto firms like Geely, Shuanghuan and Chery.
Manganese Bronze, which is based in Coventry, had been trying to secure a loan from Chinese shareholder Geely.
He also plans for half of Geely's sales to be exports from China.
It confirmed the sale of Volvo to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Company Limited at the end of last year.
But last November models from SAIC and Geely won high marks in crash tests by a European safety agency.
Volvo, which is bigger and healthier than its Swedish rival, may be sold to Geely, China's biggest privately owned carmaker.
Much of the company's shares are closely held: Geely owns 20%, while another quarter is owned by UK asset manager Toscafund.
Volvo is expected to sign a technology-sharing pact with owner Geely that could determine how they will position their auto brands.
Today, Geely has 14, 000 employees, nine manufacturing sites in China, plus kit assembly factories in several countries, including Russia, Ukraine and Malaysia.
The supplier of the part was a Chinese firm introduced by Geely.
However, few drivers of the Goteborg-based carmaker would realize that since 2010, Volvo Cars has been owned by Geely Holding Group.
It says Volvo will be run as an autonomous entity, headquartered in Sweden, at arm's length from Geely's manufacturing operations in China.
If the deal is done, Volvo's new owner will be a consortium led by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, a privately held firm.
The likes of Li Shufu, who runs Geely, the car firm that has just bought Volvo (see article), are entrepreneurs, not bureaucrats.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group acquisition of Volvo is an early step in building the image of Chinese automobiles and marketing to foreign buyers.
Manganese and Geely signed a joint venture agreement in 2006 and own a factory in Shanghai that produces taxis for the international market.
Lenovo buying IBM's Thinkpad line of computers is one such example, Geely Holding Group's recent acquisition of Swedish car maker Volvo is another.
Meanwhile, BYD and Chery lead the locals with roughly 5% each, and Geely is close on their heels with an almost 4% market share.
For example, Jaguar Land Rover was acquired by Tata motor (India) in 2008 and Volvo was sold to Geely Automobile in China in 2010.
Rumours abound that Fisker could soon be sold, possibly to the Chinese carmaker Dongfeng Motor or to Zhejiang Geely, which owns Sweden's Volvo Cars.
The acquisition of the Volvo automobile business by Geely is a good initial step, but it is a very small step by global standards.
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Geely bought Volvo from Ford, and can now combine its own Chinese market access and strong supply chain with Volvo's technology and image-making savvy.
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Geely said earlier this year it planned to enter the electric vehicle business with Kandi Technologies Group, a Chinese maker of small vehicles including go-karts.
FORBES: China's Geely Auto Shares Jump 5% After It Says Profit Climbed In '12 (Update)
Finally, Geely may set an important example for other Chinese companies.
The acquisition on March 28th of Volvo by Geely, a Chinese carmaker, is the latest example of low-cost Chinese producers' determination to build global brands.
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