First Automotive Works Group expects its car sales will increase 15 percent to one million units this year and is moving ahead with preparations for its first stock market listing to fund future expansion.

 

The nation's second-largest car maker is considering a range of plans for its initial public offering, Zhu Yanfeng, president of the state-owned FAW, said in a statement on the company Website.

 

He declined to identify the market and listing scale, however.

 

Sales in China's recovering auto industry are growing by more than 25 percent a development that has encouraged car makers to raise money from the stock market for expanding production capacity and developing new models.

 

Guangzhou Automobile Group and Chongqing Lifan Group also restarted their listing plans to accelerate development in the world's second-largest auto market.

 

Changchun, NE China's Jilin Province-based FAW cooperates with Volkswagen AG, Japan's Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp in China. Among the models it produces are the Jetta, Corolla and its wholly owned Redflag and Xiali brands.

 

The company expects it million-unit sales projection to include 400,000 vehicles from its joint venture with VW, 270,000 from FAW-Toyota and 200,000 units from its Xiali subsidiary.

 

Zhu said the car maker aims to lift its production to two million units by 2010, half of which will be self-branded models.

 

(Shanghai Daily March 13, 2007)