Mazda halves 08/09 sales f'cast at one China venture

Mazda Motor Corp halved its sales forecast at one of its two Chinese joint ventures on Friday in one of the first signs that a demand slowdown in the world's second-biggest car market is affecting automakers' plans.

The Japanese automaker, one-third owned by Ford Motor Co, now expects sales at Changan Mazda, its venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile, to come to less than 60,000 cars this business year from a previous forecast of more than 110,000 units.

Mazda had said on Thursday that a manufacturing venture that builds the Mazda2/Demio and Mazda3/Axela cars that Changan Mazda sells was cutting back production by 5,000 cars over two months this summer to work down bloated inventory.

A Mazda spokeswoman said the company was yet not officially standing down on its plan to sell 180,000 cars in the business year to March 2009, until it can gauge how much its other local venture, FAW Mazda Motor Sales Corp, can offset the shortfall.

That venture, with First Automobile Works, sells the locally produced Mazda6 model, as well as imports of the Mazda5/Premacy minivan and Mazda8 sports car.

Car sales growth in China slowed to 17 percent in the first half of this year after a rise of 20 percent or more annually since 2005. In July, sales rose 6.8 percent from the year-earlier month -- the slowest pace in two years.

Sales at Changan Mazda totalled 15,404 cars in the four months from April to July -- a pace far short of its original 110,000-plus plan. FAW Mazda's sales were 27,956 for that period, against a full business-year plan of around 70,000 cars.