Output and sales of Changan over 1 million units in 2009

The output and sales of Chana Auto Co. Ltd (Changan), reached over 1 million units in the first three-quarters of this year, Changan said yesterday. The output and sales of the independent brands of the company made up two-thirds of the total sales.

The figures show that Changan has become the fourth company to reach output and sales of over 1 million units. The other three companies are China FAW Group Corporation (FAW), Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (Group) and Dongfeng Motors. The three companies are cooperation companies.

Sales of Changan reached 1.03 million units in the first three-quarters, up 50.14 percent year-on-year, and it is nearly 16 percent higher than total sales in the auto industry.

"The output and sales pf vehicles in the Chinese market have reached 10 million units, but most of the sales are those of cooperation brands. FAW, SAIC and Dongfeng Motors are all cooperation companies, with only a small part of the Chinese independent brands in the sales," said Xu Liuping, president of Changan. What Xu is most proud of is that "Changan becomes a new feature power in the domestic auto industry" as a Chinese independent brand.

Changan benefited from China's two policies, one is to encourage the consumption of low displacement cars, and the other is boosting auto sales in rural areas. In the first nine months of this year, Changan's sales of small cars reached 500,000 units, up 76.5 percent compared with the same period last year.

Agencies and Wang Yang contributed to this story