Chinese carmakers are celebrating the end of a year that has seen some of the world's least-known car companies stepping up to buy some of the west's most prominent automobile brands and technology.
Ford Motor announced yesterday it had reached an all but final agreement to sell its Swedish-based Volvo brand to Geely, the ambitious but previously little- known Chinese carmaker.
The same day, Beijing Automotive (BAIC), the state-owned carmaker, said it would invest Rmb33bn ($4.8bn) to research and develop its own-brand cars based in part on $200m worth of Saab technology and production equipment bought earlier this month from General Motors.