Beiqi Foton sells 409,563 vehicles in '08, up 1.9%

Shanghai, January 16 (Gasgoo.com) Beiqi Foton Motor Co., China's biggest maker of commercial vehicles, sold 409,563 vehicles in 2008, up 1.9% from 2007. Its sales in December hit 19,633 units, said Shihua Financial Info today, citing the company's data.

In December 2008, the company sold 19,633 vehicles, which include 1,739 medium- and heavy-duty trucks, 16,283 light / mini trucks, 1,107 mini buses, 292 large- and medium-sized buses, and 212 other vehicles such as the SUV and MP-X.

The 2008 full-year vehicle sales of Beiqi Foton reached 409,563 units, up 1.9% year on year, which include 59,705 medium- and heavy-duty trucks (down 5.5%), 329,890 light / mini trucks (up 3.0%), 13,775 mini buses (down 7.7%), 2,548 large- and medium-sized buses (up 34.7%), and 3,645 other vehicles such as the SUV and MP-X (up 112.3%).

Beiqi Foton announced in early December 2008 that it would invest 2.18 billion yuan ($319 million) in updating its truck technologies, expanding truck-making capacity and developing new pickup and SUV products. The company built China's first renewable energy vehicle design and manufacturing base in Beijing on December 28.

Daimler AG and Beiqi Foton have recently agreed to set up a 50-50 truck venture with total investment of 6.35 billion yuan. The joint venture - Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co - will start producing diesel engines in 2011 and trucks in 2012.