Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co, a tie-up between Japan's Honda
Motor Co and Guangzhou Automobile Corp, expects to sell 15 percent
more vehicles in 2008 and is aiming for the 1 million mark in the
next couple of years.
Fu Shoujie, executive vice-president of the joint venture, said
yesterday it plans to move 340,000 vehicles in 2008, up from the
projected 295,000 units this year.
The 2008 sales will include 178,000 units of the venture's
flagship model, an all-new mid-sized Accord, 60,000 units of both
the compact City and subcompact Fit, and 42,000 Odyssey wagons, Fu
said.
He said Guangzhou Honda will be able to achieve annual sales of
1 million vehicles in "the foreseeable future" with intensive
introduction of new products.
The company plans to launch at least one all-new model annually
in the coming years, including under a non-Honda brand whose
intellectual properties will be owned by the venture itself,
according to Fu.
Guangzhou Honda, which has an annual production capacity of
480,000 vehicles, plans to put the first non-Honda model into
production in 2010, possibly making it the first Sino-foreign car
venture to create a badge not from overseas carmakers.
The venture in July set up a research and development center
with an initial investment of 2 billion yuan, responsible for
creating its upcoming "own-brand" models.
The new Accord, which has three engine options of 2.0, 2.4 and
3.5 liters, will go on sale next month, head-to-head with Toyota's
Camry and the Magotan from Volkswagen - the two locally produced
hot-selling mid-sized models in China.
Toyota's joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile announced
earlier this week that it aims to sell 175,000 units of the Camry
next year.
Fu said Guangzhou Honda will further expand sales networks next
year to help achieve its sales goal.
The company will have a total 450 sales outlets across China in
2008, up from 350 by the end of this year, he said.
Fu predicted that China's entire vehicle market will exceed 10
million units next year, propelled by the nation's booming
economy.
Sales of China-made cars rose by 23.2 percent year-on-year to
7.95 million units in the first 11 months, according to industry
data.
(China Daily December 28, 2007)
