2008 Beijing Auto Show Preview: Geely Plans To Make a Big Splash

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BEIJING — Geely Automobile, China's largest independent automaker, missed its ambitious sales targets last year, in part because it launched few significant new products. Chairman Li Shufu apparently doesn't intend to make that mistake again, as his company is readying an eye-popping arsenal of new concept and production vehicles for next week's 2008 Beijing Auto Show.

It's unclear how many of the new Geely concepts — which range from a minicar and a compact crossover to an SUV and even a new sports car — will actually make it into production over the next two years. But that hasn't stopped the company's PR machine from steadily leaking images (most of which appear to be artist renderings) of the upcoming concepts onto the Web, days and weeks ahead of the auto show.

Inside Line already has showed you images of the Tiger (GT) concept sports car and the Panda (LC) minicar. That's literally only the tip of the Geely iceberg.

Also slated for debut next week in Beijing are the CE, a small hatchback/crossover; the FC-1 (also labeled GE in some media reports), an oddly shaped wagon; the FC-3, which appears to be an update of the Vision sedan; the GC, a larger Accord-class sedan; the HL (also known as HE), a larger multipurpose vehicle; and the NL, a larger crossover with SUV styling cues.

All told, the company plans to release nearly two dozen vehicles at the show, including a new five-door variant of its King Kong sedan and an update of the London Taxi, as well as new hybrid and fuel-cell variants of existing models.

What this means to you: Geely no doubt will benefit from the initial promotional blast from the Beijing show. But can the company leverage that publicity to its advantage over the longer term, especially in major global markets outside China? — Paul Lienert, Correspondent