Coming to America

Most Asian carmakers have taken a humble route to U.S. shores: Toyota’s 1968 Corolla carried a modest price tag; South Korea followed in 1986 with the Hyundai Excel. Chinese carmakers Geely and Chery both hope to storm the low end of the U.S. market. But China’s Nanjing Automobile Group wants to raise the bar by selling roadsters in the U.S. from 2008 under the famous MG marque. Nanjing, which bought MG Rover last year, hopes to build the $25,000 MG TF coupes in Oklahoma at the first Chinese auto factory on American soil—a long way from MG’s British roots, and even farther from Nanjing.