Chinese automaker Geely International Corp. will sell sedans of three engine variants in its Indonesian debut at the price of below 100 million rupiah (about US$10,800), a leading economic daily reported Tuesday.

 

The sedans -- with engine capacities of 1,300 cc, 1,500 cc and 1,600 cc -- will be assembled by local partner PT Gaya Motor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Indonesia's largest auto firm PT Astra International.

 

The products will hit the market in July, reported Indonesian-language Bisnis Indonesia, quoting an executive with the company.

 

The distribution chains will focus on the most crowded island of Java, with annual sales targeted at 2,000 units.

 

"Why Indonesia? Because the (automotive) industry here grows by the average of 10 percent a year," said Geely International president director George Zhao.

 

Founded in 1986, the company with some 8,000 employees and production capacity of 650,000 units a year now ranks seventh in China's lucrative auto industry, Zhao claimed.

 

"With continued R and D activities, we are confident that we will be able to produce and sell 1 million units by 2010 and 2 million units by 2015," he said of the global target.

 

Geely becomes the second Chinese automaker to make presence in Indonesia after Chery Automobile entered the market last year in collaboration with the country's second-largest auto producer and distributor PT Indomobil Sukses International.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2007)