Geely in talks with giant carmaker

Geely in talks with giant carmaker

SHANGHAI: China's Geely Group, a privately-owned auto venture, is in talks with a major multinational vehicle maker for a mainland joint venture, state press reported Tuesday.

The name of the company was not disclosed but is one of the so-called "six plus three" automakers -- General Motors, Ford, Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, Renault-Nissan, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Honda and BMW, Geely president Xu Gang said.

DaimlerChrysler is the only major group not to have a passenger car manufacturing joint venture in China.

Xu also said Hong Kong-listed investment company Guorun Holdings will inject up to HK$500 million (US$64 million) into a joint venture with the mainland group, the China Daily reported.

Guorun will hold a stake of 40 to 50 percent.

Last week Guorun signed a letter of intent to invest in the Geely unit, Zhejiang Geely Automobile, although Geely will seek to buy out Guorun's stake in the future, the paper said.

Geely plans to list on China's domestic stock markets later this year, with an eye toward an initial public offering in Hong Kong and New York within three years. -- AFP