Foton Feb sales up 132% m/m to 45,102 units

Shanghai, March 16 (Gasgoo.com) China truck maker Beiqi Foton Motor Co, a partner of Germany's Daimler AG, said its vehicle sales last month rose 132 percent from January, Reuters reported on Monday.

The company said in a statement that it sold 45,102 vehicles in total in February, up 10.60 percent year on year. The sales boom should take into account a freak heavy storm that took place last February, causing vehicle demand to freeze during that month.

Sales of light trucks, its main product, rose 20.8 percent from a year earlier to 40,464 units last month. Sales of heavy duty trucks fell by 51.5 percent from a year earlier to 2,509 units but rose 96.78 percent from January.

March sales of Beiqi Foton is expected to surge higher following the introduction of "cars to the countryside" plan, which came into effect from March 1 and offers up to 5,000 yuan (about $730) in subsidy for every farmer's purchase of light trucks and minivans.