Changan Auto Feb sales up 74% to 159,060 vehicles

Shanghai, March 5 (Gasgoo.com) Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd said yesterday that its vehicle sales volume in February rose 74% to 159,060 units. Sales for the first two months of this year jumped 98% to 357,439 units, Xinhua reported.

The increase in sales was driven by the country's auto market boom, according to the statement. Changan Auto, a Chinese partner of Ford Motor and Mazda Motor, has yet to issue its 2009 annual business report.

Earlier this week Changan said that its joint venture Changan Ford Mazda sold 18,193 Ford-brand passenger cars last month, up 37.5% from a year earlier, with sales of the Ford Focus up 22% to 9,425 units.

Last month PSA Peugeot-Citroen was in deep talks with Changan Auto Group to form the French car company's second Chinese venture, which may be based in south China's Shenzhen city, media reported.

Changan Auto said it plans to raise up to 4 billion yuan ($586 million) via a new public offer of yuan-denominated A shares to fund production line expansion, engine technology upgrading, and R&D capability improvement.

Shares of Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. (000625 CH) closed lower yesterday at 12.49 yuan, down 1.65%, than the previous close despite its report of soaring vehicle sales for the first two months.