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Volkswagen China JV aims to double sales

By Gong Zhengzheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-09-21 09:04

German carmaker Volkswagen's joint venture (JV) with China's First Automotive Works Corp (FAW) plans to more than double annual sales by 2011 from last year.

The venture, FAW VW, told China Daily it aims to sell 600,000 cars in 2011, up from 277,300 units in 2005.

The 2011 sales will include 450,000 Volkswagen-branded cars and 150,000 units under the Audi nameplate, the venture said. Audi is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen.

FAW VW, based in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province, expects to grab one-tenth of the domestic passenger car market by then, it said.

The company's ambitious target comes as its sales and the overall domestic passenger car market picked up pace after a slow couple of years.

In the first eight months of this year, FAW VW's sales jumped by one-fourth year-on-year to 227,676 units, including 175,585 Volkswagen cars and 52,091 Audi vehicles.

These sales made it the No 3 single car producer in China after US auto giant General Motors' venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp and Volkswagen's other venture with the Shanghai auto group.

For the full year, FAW VW said it expects to sell 352,000 vehicles 276,000 units under the Volkswagen brand and 76,000 Audi cars.