While much of the auto world concentrates on the fate of Chrysler, half a world away from Auburn Hills, Mich., China has taken another step toward becoming a global automaker.On Tuesday, Nanjing Automobile Group, on the occasion of its 60th birthday, announced it had started local production of two MG cars: the MG 7, a midsized sedan, and the MG TF, a two-seat convertible. State-owned Nanjing Auto bought the storied MG brand name and production lines for £53 million at the fire sale of the bankrupt MG Rover in 2005 (see “MG Overtaken By China”). The first “made in China” MG TF was painted British racing green. Initial sales will be focused on China, where the market is dominated by Japanese and German models.Both Nanjing Auto, China’s oldest automaker, and the rival it beat out for MG Rover–the bigger Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., which owns the rights to sell the two main Rover models in China–made no bones at the time about the fact that buying MG Rover was a way for them to start fulfilling their ambitions in the global car market.Last year, Nanjing Auto said it would join with two U.S. investment funds to build vehicles under the storied British marque MG at a new plant in Oklahoma. It would be the first Chinese carmaker to open a factory in the U.S. It expects to start producing a coupe in Oklahoma that would sell for up to $20,000 in late 2008. (See “China Plans An American Coupe.”)Nanjing Auto also plans from May to build a convertible version of its coupe at the Longbridge plant it acquired in the U.K., as well as ship some Nanjing-built vehicles back in kit form for final assembly and sale in the U.K. The MG Rover assets give Nanjing Auto the capacity to make 200,000 cars, 250,000 engines and 100,000 gearboxes a year.For all their ambition to be global players, these are still early days for China’s carmakers. The country became a net exporter of cars only in 2005, and export volumes last year were less than 300,000 vehicles. News source: Forbes.com