Three-wheeler revived by Morgan Motor gets unique entry into China

At the foot of Malvern Hills in England in red-brick shed, Morgan Motor Co. is preparing an unusual assault on the growing Chinese auto market. Managing Director Charles Morgan said the 100-year-old company has created a model that will stand out from the crowd in Asian showrooms. That's partly because the M3W is hand-built, wood-framed and based on a 50-year-old design -- and mainly because it has three wheels. 

"Try to sell a Ferrari and you're up against Lamborghini, the Audi R8, Lotus, McLaren," he said. "Send a Morgan three- wheeler there and they'll know the difference." Morgan, known for retro designs harking back to the England of local composerEdward Elgar, is betting on the M3W to spur Asian demand as slowing economies crimp European and U.S. sales. The company said it has been approached by 20 potential Chinese dealers this year for $39,000 successor to a series of three-wheel models it stopped making in 1952. 

Other top-end automakers are also targeting China, where luxury sales may jump 39% in 2011 to 939,000, surpassing Germany as the No. 2 market after the US, said Jenny Gu, a Shanghai-based analyst at LMC Automotive. British sports-car brand Lotus, a unit of Malaysia's Proton Holdings Bhd, added its first Beijing dealership in October, even as Chinese consumer demand is forecast to slow as the economy grows less quickly. Founded by Charles Morgan's grandfather, Morgan said the company seeks to create a sense of "automotive theater" around its models. 

"Products that combine design and authenticity are very attractive to the connoisseur, and Morgan appeals to somebody who wants those real materials," Morgan said in an interview at the company's base in Malvern Link. The familyowned company has chosen to remain a niche manufacturer and avoided overreaching to chase higher volumes, he said, something that led to the collapse of other UK carmakers.