Economy

Markets

Industries

Insights

Reports

Events

Honda: global losses offset in Chinese market

By John Bonnell (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-20 07:50

Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co expects its China sales to grow by 10 percent this year partly to offset its slump in other major markets affected by global financial woes, according to a top executive from the company's China operation.

Related publication:

Atsuyoshi Hyogo, chairman and president of Honda's regional operations (China), said the company aims to sell 520,000 vehicles in China this year, up from 473,000 units in 2008.

"Market conditions in China and Brazil remain fairly good amid the world's financial crisis. We should speed up efforts there to achieve better results to make up for losses in North America, Japan and Europe," Hyogo told reporters.

China will be Honda's "most competitive" markets this year as the country's economy and auto industry are still growing steadily, he said.

Overall vehicle sales in China rose by 3.88 percent year-on-year to 2.68 million units in the first quarter, surpassing the US as the world's top vehicle market for the first time, according to latest industry data. Full-year sales are predicted to reach 10 million units this year.

Honda runs joint ventures with China's Guangzhou Automobile Group Corp and Dongfeng Motor Corp...

The full text is available in the April Issue of Auto China.Please visit publications for more subscription details.