Honda China Sept sales up 27% to 59,140 units

Shanghai, October 14 (Gasgoo.com) Honda Motor Co. said yesterday that it sold 59,140 vehicles in China in September, up 27% from a year earlier, media reported. The sales were achieved by Honda's two Chinese ventures.

The company's China sales during the January-September period totaled 409,162 units, up 15% year-on-year, the Japanese carmaker said in a statement.

Last month, Guangzhou Honda, a joint venture with Guangzhou Auto, achieved sales of 37,615 units, up 16.5% y/y. Sales at Dongfeng Honda, a tie-up with Dongfeng Motor Corp, increased 49.4% y/y to 21,525 units.

Honda Motor expects its China sales to increase 10% to 520,000 units in 2009 from 473,000 units of last year. Dongfeng Honda is preparing for building its second plant in central China's Wuhan city by March next year.

Honda has racked up record production in China, although worldwide production for Japan's No. 2 automaker declined year-on-year for the 10th straight month.