FAW Group aims to sell 2.3 mln vehicles this year

Chinese auto giant FAW Group, partner of Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor, aims to sell more than 2.3 million vehicles in 2010, up 18.3 percent from its last year's sales, Xinhua News reported recently.

FAW Group deputy general manager Jin Yi said the company, China's second largest automaker (after SAIC Motor), has set a sales revenue target of 290 billion yuan ($42.48bn) for the this year, an 11.2 percent increase from the actual figures recorded in 2009.

Last year, FAW Group's sales hit 1.95 million vehicles, up 26.9 percent, bringing sales revenue to 260.8 billion yuan, up 23.4 percent rise. The automaker benefitted from the government incentives for the auto industry, including sales tax cuts for small cars and trade-in subsidies for clean vehicles.

China's top automaker SAIC, a local partner of General Motors and Volkswagen AG, has set its sales target for this year at three million vehicles, a conservative 2.7 percent increase from last year's figures.

The Chinese government's sustained stimulus measures for the auto market will continue to spur demand and sales this year, industry executives said, though the growth may slow down.

China overtook the United States as the world's largest auto market last year, with auto sales growing 46.15 percent to 13.64 million vehicles.