The sino-Japanese auto maker Dongfeng Honda plans to double its annual production capacity from current 120,000 units to 240,000 units within five years.

Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co. Ltd., a joint venture between China's Dongfeng Motor Corporation and Japan's Honda Motor Company, produces 620 units every day, above the designed capacity of 500 units, said Liu Yuhe, deputy general manager of the joint venture.

During the previous three years, the joint venture posted a more than 10 percent growth rate every year, Liu said, adding the sales for this year were expected to reach 152,000 units, compared with 127,000 last year.

The second factory has begun construction in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province, and will start operation this year. When completed, it is expected to bring the company's output to 168,000 units at the end of this year, almost a 40-percent increase on last year.

The Wuhan-based Dongfeng Honda was founded in July 2003, with a registered capital of 200 million U.S. dollars. It began producing Honda CR-V sport utility vehicles in April 2004 for the Chinese market.

Hong Kong-listed Dongfeng Motor Group and Honda each owns 50 percent of the joint venture.

Dongfeng Motor, China's third largest automotive group after Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and Changchun First Automobile Works (FAW), also runs joint ventures with Japan's Nissan and French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen.

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2008)