Geely Auto is planning to roll out the FC-3 and FC-2, a hatchback and a sedan models of the automaker's upcoming high-end Imperial (Dihao) brand by the mid-2009, Beijing News said, citing Geely senior officials.

Last week at the Guangzhou auto show, Geely Auto launched its small car Panda and other two new models code-named FC-2, FC-3, which will go on sale in June 2009. In addition to these economical cars, Geely is making its foray into the luxury sedan segment, and will launch its first premium sedan model nicknamed "small Rolls-Royce" by 2011, said xinhuanet.com today.

While the global auto market is sliding and many Chinese carmakers are mulling job cuts, Geely Auto bucks the trend by expansion. Its Hunan-based Xiangtan facility for producing the Geely Vision model was inaugurated last week, the Linhai base has been re-vamped and other plants are also being expanded, said xinhuanet.com today.

While many Chinese automakers are cutting outputs and jobs, a few are defying the trend of the auto market downturn to expand their operations. Like SAIC-GM-Wuling, Geely Auto is recruiting more talents for its growth amid the crisis of China's auto industry, reported Shanghai Securities News today.

Privately-owned Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group has launched its self-developed driving safety technology, namely the blowout monitoring and braking system (BMBS), which can rival and even replace the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) of the United States, reported xinhuanet.com today.

Chinese privately owned carmaker Geely Auto will see its first batch of 500 sedans go on sale in Turkey in October, said xinhuanet.com today citing a Geely dealer in the country.