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Dongfeng Motor
Corp, China's third-biggest automaker, said it aims to double its annual sales
by the end of this decade on the tails of China's growing auto industry. Zhou
Wenjie, deputy general manager of the company based in Central China's Hubei Province,
said it plans to sell 1.8 million vehicles in 2010, up from 900,000 units estimated
this year. The
2010 sales, if possible, would enable Dongfeng, the parent of Hong Kong-listed
Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd, to lift its market share in China to 18 per cent
from 12.66 per cent last year, Zhou said. The parent firm sold 729,000 vehicles
in 2005. He
said the parent company aims to earn more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.27 billion)
in profits in 2010. The company's 2005 profits reached 7.08 billion yuan (US$896.2
million), according to industry statistics. "We
are seeking sustainable and profitable growth which will give our investors stable,
high and long-term returns," he said. He
said the market capitalization of Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd, which launched
an initial public offering in Hong Kong at the end of last year, has expanded
by 120 per cent to 32 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$4.11 billion). The listed
company accounts for more than four-fifths of the parent company's total assets. However,
the listed unit closed at 3.74 Hong Kong dollars (48.07 US cents) per share yesterday,
down 3.86 per cent. Helped
by buoyant vehicle sales and producers' increased cost-cutting endeavours, China's
auto sector has regained profit growth this year after consecutive plunges over
the past two years. Profits
of the sector, consisting of vehicles, spare parts and motorcycles, rose 48.87
per cent year-on-year to 54.47 billion yuan (US$6.89 billion) in the first three
quarters of this year. Zhou
said Dongfeng Motor Corp, the parent firm, plans to spend some 3 billion yuan
(US$379 million) building new production capacity, enhancing development capability
and launching new products annually in the years leading to 2010. It
now makes buses and trucks under its own nameplate . Parent
Dongfeng's sales jumped by a quarter to 742,200 vehicles in the first 10 months
of this year from the same period in 2005. The sales included 516,000 buses and
trucks and 226,200 cars. In
the meantime, sales of all China-made vehicles grew by a quarter to 5.77 million
units.
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