China's Geely Has Global Auto Ambitions

As a boy growing up in rural China, Li Shufu was fascinated by cars. The son of rice farmers in the southeastern province of Zhejiang, Li started making model autos when he was only 8 years old. "I used mud to make cars and tires, big ones," says Li, 44. That boyhood hobby paid off well for Li, who grew up to become the founder and chairman of one of the most important automakers in China, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

Now Li has an even loftier goal: Transform Geely into a force in the auto industry, not just in China but worldwide. With gasoline well over $4 a gallon in the U.S., he figures the timing may be right for American consumers to consider inexpensive, fuel-efficient Chinese-made names like Geely. While Detroit giants like General Motors (GM) are losing billions of dollars, slashing jobs, and shutting factories, Geely is taking advantage of solid growth in its home market, the world's second-largest, to expand into new markets. Last month, for instance, Li announced tentative plans to open a $500 million plant in Mexico to produce vehicles for the U.S. and Latin America.