Great Wall Motor to raise sedan sales for 2009

Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. plans to have about 200 new sedan dealers in China to raise its gross profit margin.

Bai Xuefei, vice-president and secretary to the president, said Wednesday in Hong Kong that the company's commercial network of sedans will expand from 200 to 400 by the end of this year.

As China's largest maker and exporter of pickups and SUVs, Great Wall Motor saw its domestic vehicle sales up 103.2 percent, though overseas vehicle sales declined to only 16 percent of the gross operating income.

In the first half of 2009, Great Wall Motor sold 28,400 sedan units, up six-fold from a year earlier, making up 41 percent of its H1 sales.

Bai believes if Great Wall Motor's sedan sales reaches 60,000 units, the gross profit margin of the company will increase. For the first half of this year, the automaker's gross profit margin was 17.5 percent, dropping 3 percent year-on-year.

The sales target for Great Wall Motor for 2009 is 170,000 to 190,000 units, and the company is confident in reaching this goal.

Agencies and Shi Jierui contributed to this story