The Chinese Changfeng Motor company SUV Liebao CS6, at the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. China's Changfeng auto group said it plans to start selling its sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks in the world's biggest car market within two years. [AFP]

Detroit - China's Changfeng auto group said it plans to start selling its sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks in the world's biggest car market within two years.

But Changfeng Group chairman Li Jianxin, making his debut at the Detroit auto show, acknowledged that the state-owned firm has yet to forge any all-important ties with US distributors and dealers.

In the meantime, DaimlerChrysler's US arm is joining forces with China's Chery Automotive Co. to build small cars in China that could be sold in the United States and around the world within two years.

And ZX Auto hopes to become the first Chinese carmaker to enter the United States, from mid-2008, according to the company's US importer, Chamco Auto.

Li insisted that Changfeng's vehicles are good enough for the fiercely competitive US market.

"From the beginning, we have had quality as our number one priority," he told AFP after unveiling Changfeng's latest SUV -- called Liebao ("Cheetah") -- and a new pickup in Detroit.

"We already have high standards as a starting point (for the United States)."

Li stressed that the company has absorbed production and management know-how from its Japanese partner, Mitsubishi Motors. But asked by reporters whether Changfeng was copying older Mitsubishi designs, he said "absolutely not."

Changfeng, which was once a part of the Chinese army's industrial empire, is one of the smaller Chinese carmakers with annual production of 100,000 SUVs and trucks.

It became only the second Chinese automaker to exhibit in the main Detroit salon after the much larger Geely Automobile Co. made a splash with its debut in the Motor City last year.

Geely made similar noises then about soon selling its vehicles in the United States, but has since gone quiet about its plans.

The Changfeng boss, however, said "we have prepared ourselves" by gaining foreign sales expertise in parts of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

"Our participation (in Detroit) is the start of our global strategy. We hope within two years to get our products into the US," Li said.

But he acknowledged: "We will have to satisfy local demand and we will also have to provide after-sales service. We know that in a mature market like North America, there are exhaustive lessons that we have to learn."

After Geely and Changfeng, ZX Auto was to display its own SUV and pickup truck from Wednesday in a hotel across from the main Detroit show.

To sell in the United States, the vehicles must first undergo lengthy US safety tests.

And Chamco Auto chairman Bill Pollack said that interior changes from the ZX models sold in China, including more legroom for taller Americans and bigger cupholders, are also required.

He said both the SUV and truck would retail for just over 13,000 dollars, at least 20 percent below any competitor.

"The American consumer knows that, as opposed to buying Chinese dresses or lawnmowers, there are extremely strict rules on quality here," Pollack added.

"Plus the Chinese government is being very clever by limiting exports to just a few companies. They know that China's image is on the line."

Japanese cars once faced similar image problems in the United States. So did South Korean makers like Hyundai more recently, but the Asian makers have made record-breaking sales progress.

Steve Wilhite, chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor America, said the auto industry was broadening to encompass "really bright designers, engineers and manufacturers" in China and elsewhere.

"So I think the Chinese will add just another level of competitive pressure and opportunity," he said. "I think they'll be here, and I think they'll do well."