Of course, selling to a home market of 1.3bn people there is a lot to aim at without looking abroad. But that hasn't stopped some of the domestic brands making plans to export to the US and Europe as well.
Landwind tried to start sales in continental Europe back in 2005 but suffered a crushing safety result for its New Vision 4x4. The video of the test by German experts ADAC showed a crash-test dummy being decapitated by the car's bonnet. No stars and very poor publicity unsurprisingly followed. Chinese brands realised quality, safety and emissions would have to be heavily revised before a return.

Second wave
In late 2006, ex-Kia UK boss Paul Williams came on board to revive Landwind's European fortunes. He claimed the brand would be the first of a more successful second wave of Chinese carmakers to take on Europe – with the UK playing an important part.
Left-hand drive petrol-only versions of Landwind's heavily revised 4x4 – reborn as the
X-pedition – are due to gain type approval at the end of May and go on sale in continental Europe this autumn. Right-hand drive models for the UK and diesel units will follow in 2008. Although Williams, told Motor Trader, that with the domestic Chinese market so buoyant there's little need for most brands to export, he said for Landwind there was “a point to prove” and as a smaller manufacturer in China, it could also be “more flexible”.
The brand is 50 per cent each owned by Jiangling Motor Company and Changan Motors. Williams described Landwind “as a relatively small part of a big organisation” that only currently sells about 40,000-50,000 vehicles in China.
However, it has the capacity to reach 200,000 so Williams' sales targets of 50,000 by 2010 as managing director of Landwind Motor Corporation Europe appear feasible from a production point of view.
The X-pedition, which Williams quipped “looks remarkably like a Frontera, people say”, has its roots in the old Isuzu-based product but offers a current 2.4-litre petrol engine from Mitsubishi, new components and a heavily revised suspension. The budget five-seater off-roader should cost £13,000 with leather, aircon and vastly improved crash safety this time.
The bigger thrust for the brand said Williams, will be the new five or seven-seater mini-MPV Fashion already on sale in China and penned by well-regarded Italian design group Idea. It will reach Europe next January and the UK by summer 2008.
Williams is seeking 120 UK dealers with “the right attitude” in a mixture of rural and urban locations and expects to have most in place by Christmas.
Landwind has earmarked 10,000 units for the UK by 2010. Across Europe Williams wants 800 dealers and said the 600 who signed up two years ago are sticking with the brand.
A few Chinese brands are in continental Europe already but Williams said most were operating through single vehicle type approval or under special commercial vehicle rules limiting numbers and vehicle type. These include Great Wall in Italy and Brilliance in continental Europe through HSO Motors Europe. Chery is due to get involved in Spain and Greece next year but defined UK plans for all these brands are unclear.

Chinese MG
MG will return to Britain in a symbolic way by the end of 2007 – aiming to sell 3,000 Longbridge-built made MGTF roadsters a year. However, although it is now owned by Chinese company Nanjing Automobile Corporation, the brand is neither Chinese nor are the models destined for the UK going to be built in China. NAC said Chinese-built MGs destined for the UK are unlikely before 2010.
The bigger Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation which has the rights to the Rover 75 and 25 models, but not the Rover name (Ford bought the Rover badge from BMW for a reported £5.5m to protect its Land Rover products) could soon be selling a trio of
Euro-bound products under the newly-minted Roewe badge.
These include the 750, a heavily tweaked Rover 75, an all-new small family saloon based on the W2 Shanghai show concept plus a new Rover 25-replacement. As the W2 – on sale in China late 2007 – is engineered to meet all Euro safety and emission regulations, it could easily sell in continental Europe by 2008 with right-hand drive versions 18 months later (as reported in Motor Trader 7 May).
In terms of the UK network, nothing is yet finalised but SAIC has owned the Ssangyong brand since 2004 so SYUK dealers selling Chinese-made Roewe-badged cars on their forecourts would be a natural fit and some discussions have already taken place. SAIC is due to make a formal announcement on its European plans at the Frankfurt motor show this September.

Import appeal
Another UK-based importer with strong links to China is the IM Group. It claimed to be in talks with “every major Chinese carmaker” but inside sources suggest Chery and Geely could be the highest up its list of Chinese firms to import – and in the case of Geely alone – the move could prove very lucrative. In a recent Geely brochure its chairman Li Shufu – dubbed the “Chinese Henry Ford” – claimed to have “already finished his international strategy blueprint” which would see Geely selling 20m cars by 2015 – 65 per cent for export.
Though the figures seem – even by Chinese growth standards – a little fanciful don't bet against the brand making significant headway. A recent Frost and Sullivan report conservatively suggested a Chinese vehicle maker would be among the top ten global players by 2020.
The predicted Chinese onslaught of a year or two ago didn't happen but a second wave is re-grouping. As Williams put it, “They're not so bothered about when so much as doing it right. In five to ten years they will be a real threat and longer term, I believe Chinese carmakers will be in Europe to stay.”