New Geely SUV in October

Chinese manufacturer Geely confirmed that its SUV production facility in Chengdu, capital city of southwest China's Sichuan province, will start building cars as soon as next month, which means the first SUV model is likely to arrive in October. Geely invested a total of 3 billion yuan (approximately $440 million) in this new plant which includes assembly, coating, stamping and welding workshops, according to a report by gasgoo.com.

The first model to be manufacturer by the new facility is the Gleagle GX SUV which is expected to be mass produced starting early 2010. The initial output will be 100,000 units per year, but the names of the countries in which the new SUV will be sold are yet to be released.

Geely is one of the Chinese carmakers that struggle to expand their business overseas, with some media reports hinting the company will arrive in Europe as soon as 2010. An Austrian car dealer has already confirmed that it will begin selling Geely models in Europe from 2010, but the Chinese carmakers are still tweaking their models to comply with local regulations and pass Euro NCAP safety tests.

On a separate front, Geely is fighting for the ownership of Volvo. The Chinese carmaker is reportedly planning to offer up to $2 billion for the controlling stake in the Swedish brand whose owner, Ford, is apparently aiming to delay the sale until GM sells Opel to either Magna or RHJ. This way, the American manufacturer plans to invite the losing suitor to bid for Volvo and thus, create competition for the Chinese Geely.