Short Torque

Volvo sales up sharply

Sales of Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo Cars Corp, owned by Ford Motor Co, surged by 47 percent year-on-year to 14,918 units in China in the first three quarters of this year, mainly boosted by its flagship model S80L. In September alone, the company's China sales totaled 2,537 cars, an increase of 79 percent from a year ago. Volvo produces the S80L and S40 at Ford's joint venture with China's Chang'an Motor Corp in southwestern city of Chongqing. Its imported lineup includes the XC90, XC60, C30 and C70.

Nissan recall

Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corp last week recalled 51,813 vehicles due to a potential steering problem. The affected vehicles include 33,667 units of the Qashiqai crossover made between February 18, 2008 and May 22, 2009, and 18,146 units of the X-Trail SUV produced between March 31, 2008 and August 26, 2009. No accidents related to the potential vault have been reported.

16.7 percent rise at Honda venture

Sino-Japanese car joint venture Guangqi Honda Automobile Co Ltd sold 37,613 vehicles last month, up 16.7 percent from a year ago. The sales included 16,144 units of the Accord, 11,101 units of the City, 5,865 units of the Fit and 4,503 units of the newly launched Odyssey MPV. The strong performance in September boosted the company's overall sales in the first three quarters to 260,746 units, moving closer to its full-year target of 330,000 units.

Kia moves 49 percent more

Sino-Korean joint venture Dongfeng Yueda Kia's sales rose by 49 percent year-on-year to 157,000 vehicles in the first three quarters, boosted by an all-time monthly record last month. In September alone, the venture based in east China's Jiangsu province sold 24,141 vehicles, jumping by 115 percent from a year ago. In the month, sales of the venture's Forte compact sedan launched in June exceeded 7,000 units. Dongfeng Yueda Kia said the strong performance laid a sound foundation for it to achieve sales of 200,000 vehicles this year, up from 142,000 units in 2008. The company also makes the compact Cerato, Sportage SUV and subcompact Rio.

(China Daily 10/19/2009 page6)