A Cure For China's Traffic Woes - Is LA Next?

SHANGHAI, Dec 17, 2002; Reuters reported that China's gridlocked drivers will be able to sing their blues away next year after the country's only privately owned car maker rolls out a car equipped with karaoke gear.

China Geely Group said on Tuesday its new model, the Geely Beauty Leopard, would retail for 150,000 yuan ($18,000) and come with a phone, karaoke machine, and other bells and whistles, such as navigation gear based on the global positioning system.

The Beauty Leopard will enter production in January 2003 and go on sale in April, Geeely said in a statement.

The company, based in the eastern Chinese city Ningbo, has been making cars since 1999 and has a line of sedans and hatchbacks that includes China's cheapest car, which sells for 38,900 yuan ($4,700).