The term "low-priced sports car" has been an oxymoron for a long time.
Now Geely of China is preparing to offer its Beauty Leopard to European buyers as early as 2008 — and to sell it at low prices people in the West are not accustomed to paying for a performance car.
Geely Automobile is China's largest private carmaker. The Beauty Leopard was introduced in late 2003 in China as that country's first homemade sports car. It comes with a choice of 1.3- or 1.5-liter engines and has a five-speed manual or automatic transmission developed by Geely. Top speed is 180 mph. Admittedly, those numbers lag behind the European sports-car competition, but Geely is betting the Beauty Leopard is technologically up-to-date enough to reassure those who are concerned about the safety and reliability of a Chinese car.
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