Last month, as world carmakers were idling their plants in Europe and the US for long holiday breaks, Geely was gearing up production of its new Panda.

The Hong Kong-listed Chinese carmaker, based in the coastal city of Hangzhou, took 2,000 orders in November for the small car, which it premiered at this year's Beijing motor show. Geely, which was also planning an electric version of the vehicle, described the Panda as a "tremendous success" and said it planned to increase production of the car in 2009.