China '08 heavy truck sales to hit 500,000 units

Shanghai, November 10 (Gasgoo.com) Over the past 30 years, the output and sales of China's heavy-duty trucks have increased from 4,131 units in 1978 to 489,000 units in 2007, and the volume is expected to reach 500,000 units this year, said xinhuanet.com today, citing Ma Chunji, chairman of Sinotruk, the country's leading heavy-duty truck manufacturer.

China had imported heavy trucks for many years. In 1960, the first Chinese-developed heavy truck was rolled out in Jinan Auto Works, the predecessor of Sinotruk, marking the beginning of China's heavy truck manufacturing history, but this industry in China had seen a relatively small scale for 40 years, said the chairman of Sinotruk.

It was in 2001 that Sinotruk started a series of innovative and restructuring reforms to improve its production capacity. The sales of the company skyrocketed to 100,000 units in 2007 (from its annual output of 3,800 units in 2006), making Sinotruck the leading heavy truck maker in China and one of the top five heavy truck makers in the world.

The sales of China-made heavy trucks are set to top 500,000 units in 2008, but this figure will still leave much room for expansion in such a large market, said Ma.

The Chinese heavy truck industry is expected to make another significant breakthrough in the next five to eight years to rival the world's heavy truck giants such as Volvo, Daimler and Isuzu.