Chery Auto '08 sales down 6.6% on low demand

Shanghai, January 6 (Gasgoo.com) Chery Automobile Co, China's biggest domestic automaker, said its car sales fell to 356,000 units in 2008 from 381,000 a year earlier, down around 6.6 pct.

The sales result has made Chery the country's fifth largest carmaker in terms of the total sales volume in 2008, according to data released by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Chery's exports rose to 135,000 units last year from 119,800 cars in 2007, the data showed. The carmaker failed its 2008 sales target of 480,000 units, with 300,000 units initially projected to be sold at home and 180,000 units abroad.

The drop in sales was attributed to the decreasing demand around the global markets triggered by the expanding financial crisis. Most automakers in the China fell short of their sales targets for 2008 due to the weakening demand.