Honda expects China sales to grow by 10% in '09

Honda Motor Co, Japan's major carmaker, expects that its vehicle sales in China will increase 10% to 520,000 units in 2009 from 473,000 units a year earlier, said Atsuyoshi Hyogo, chairman and president of Honda's regional operations (China), the China Daily reported on Wednesday.

The Chinese market, which remains fairly strong, is expected to partly help offset losses caused by the global financial crisis in other major markets, said Hyogo, adding that China will be the Japanese automaker's most competitive market this year because the country's economy and auto industry are still growing steadily.

Honda, which owns a joint venture, Guangqi Honda Automobile, with China's Guangzhou Automobile Group Corp and Dongfeng Motor Corp, will speed up efforts to sell cars in China to offset losses in North America, Japan and Europe, according to Hyogo.

The joint venture is expected to sell 330,000 vehicles this year, up from 306,000 units in 2008, according to the report.