Chinese Carmaker May Build Factories in U.S.

Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co. might join Asian and European companies with U.S. plants to compete with General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. on their home turf, an entrepreneur said.

Chery “has agreed that the first million cars will come from China and then after that they’ll build factories in the United States,” said Malcolm Bricklin, chairman of Visionary Vehicles, which aims to be the first U.S. importer of Chinese autos.

Bricklin, who introduced the Yugo brand in the U.S. in the 1980s and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.’s Subaru in the 1960s, plans to sell five models built by China’s Chery starting in 2007.