Chinese-Israeli car's debut planned for March

Chinese-Israeli carmaking joint venture Qoros will unveil its first vehicle at the Geneva auto show next March, a company official said Thursday.

The Chinese-made car -- an as yet unnamed four-door sedan -- will make its first appearance in China at the Shanghai auto show the following month, and the firm said sales will begin in the second half of 2013 in both Europe and China.

"Our participation in the Geneva car show next March is confirmed. We will be the only Chinese automaker there," Qoros public relations official Zhang Zhen told AFP.

The announcement comes as Chinese carmakers expand their presence overseas, particularly in Europe, despite their home country having been the world's largest car market since 2009.

Qoros, a joint venture between Chinese automaker Chery and holding company Israel Corp., is headquartered in Changshu near Shanghai and headed by two former Volkswagen executives.

Volker Steinwascher was previously the German carmaker's vice president for North America while in the 1990s Guo Qian oversaw a joint venture between Volkswagen and China's state-owned FAW.

Chery is one of China's largest carmakers and already exports to more than 60 countries. It sold 150,000 vehicles overseas from January to October, up 22 percent from the year before, according to the financial information website cnfol.com.