Chery, Changan and others are also ramping up exports, especially to developing countries where low prices count most.

China's auto makers exported about 325,000 vehicles last year, about 80 percent of them low-priced trucks and buses bound for markets in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

Chery, based in Wuhu, a city in eastern China's Anhui province, has led the export push for passenger cars, selling 50,000 units overseas last year.

The company assembles vehicles in facilities run with local partners in Iran, Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil and Egypt and recently announced it has teamed up with Bognor SA to make bulletproof sedans in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo.

Like many other Chinese auto makers, Chery has its sights set on bigger targets.

At the Shanghai show, it will show an updated version of the QQ, dubbed the "Chery A1," made in a new partnership with DaimlerChrysler AG. The Chinese side says it expects the alliance eventually to build compact cars for export to North America and Europe.

Little-known overseas, SUV maker Hunan Changfeng Motors Co. put on a display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, saying it hopes to begin exports to the United States within two years.

Rival Great Wall has gained a quirky reputation for its Hover model after shipping 500 of the SUVs to Italy last summer.

Executives at GM, Toyota Motor Corp., and most other big foreign car companies say China may eventually serve as an export base, but for now their big challenge is meeting local demand.

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