Nanjing Automobile of China has signed a 33-year lease for the factory site of former British carmaker MG Rover with a view to producing sports cars from next year, Reuters reported. The company plans to employ 1,000 workers in the production of MGTF sports cars. Nanjing bought the carmaker for US$92 million last year, beating off a bid from Shanghai Automotive in a sign of the keenness of Chinese auto makers to challenge their Korean and Japanese counterparts by becoming global brands. Geely Automobile Holdings and Chery Automotive are among the other domestic players with big export plans.