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16 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 24, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Dragons are taking off! Welcome to the world of Changfeng Motor The Chinese invasion of the U.S. car market was widely predicted but so far it hasn't materialized, with manufacturers such as Chery and Geely backing off from plans announced by their US distributors. Neither showed up at Detroit this year, and nor did Landwind or Great Wall, two other Chinese firms that had a strong presence at last year's Paris show. But one Chinese manufacturer did make an appearance. Changfeng Motor drew a big crowd to announce its intention to begin exports to the U.S. within the next couple of years, together with a number of new models, mainly SUVs and pick-ups. In a slightly comical presentation, the attendant media was treated to what they termed a "propaganda film" entitled "Developing through innovations in pursuit of the great". This gave details of the company's history and impressive manufacturing capabilities, which have been built since 1996, when the company switched from the defense sector to car manufacture, though its presentation raised a few smiles as the voiceover man exclaimed "Dragons are taking though the company has since 2004 been building cars it designed itself as well. It's a small company by Chinese standards, claiming to have a capacity to build 100,000 cars a year at three plants. Its most significant launch at Detroit was a large SUV called the Liebao CS6, which was unveiled along with a small pick-up called the Feibao CT5. A much weirder concept was the Rhombus, which looks like two compact pickup truck cabs joined together. This oddball car, shown at left, is a design study by a Chinese university, which works closely with Changfeng. The company already exports to other emerging markets in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa, and while Li did not specify when U.S. sales would start, he said one of the main reasons for coming to the Detroit Show was to forge links with suppliers and potential partners. Robinson/Beinfema Autofiles EVERYTHING Auto your guide to everything auto in Oakville off! Cheetahs are leaping forward!" over a stirring orientalsounding soundtrack of Jerusalem. Changfeng's chairman Li Jianxin said the company was the largest maker of SUVs in China. Most of its sales are of cars derived from Mitsubishi Shogun models, built under license from Mitsubishi, Spend an evening with, EVERYTHIN The World's Leading Authority on Driving Growth Through Customer Satisfaction! Seating is Limite d for this one-nigh engagem t e Oakvillent in ! J.D. PowerI Executive Vice-President - J.D. Power and Associates V The Oakville Economic Development Alliance is pleased to bring you an opportunity to learn how every great company listens to the voice of the customer. February 21, 2007 - 7 p.m. Oakville Banquet and Conference Centre (Wyecroft and Bronte Road, Next to the Holiday Inn Select) For complete details and an on-line reservation form: www.oeda.ca -or- call 905-338-4187 Table of Eight: $600 - Individual Tickets: $75 The OEDA would like to thank these partners with assisting in underwriting this event: