ANY country which snaps up Morris Ital cars must be desperate. The Morris Ital was a notorious and unloved British lemon made by the British Leyland company, now called Rover. Production ceased in Britain more than 10 years ago but Rover managed to sell its assembly line to the Chengdu Automobile Factory in Sichuan province.
Goodness only knows what Chinese buyers will make of the Ital, but many have little choice - they want to buy a car, have the money and are attracted by the cache of foreign marques.
Chinese car production is planned to grow by more than 500 per cent in the coming three years. Most of the increase will be derived from joint venture companies getting into their stride.
The enormous demand for vehicles pushed China's vehicle production to record levels last year. A report in the People's Daily stated that 1.08 million had been made in 1992, 52 per cent more than the previous year.
Chinese production statistics are not reliable but give some idea of growth rates. The collection of data is complicated by the existence of 130 vehicle manufacturers, 40 of whom are in the mainstream vehicle manufacture and assembly business.
The most reliable statistics come from the joint venture companies. At the moment these companies are concentrated in the car-making business, accounting for China's entire output of saloon cars. The China National Automotive Industry Corporation estimates car production rose from 80,000 to 120,000 units.