Geely's vehicle sales up 26% in March to 30,249 units

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd<0175>, the Hong Kong-listed unit of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said on Monday that its vehicle sales in March rose 25.6% year on year to 30,249 units.

Sales grew 68% year on year to 102,838 units in the first quarter of the year, Geely said.

The first-quarter sales accounted for 25.7% of Geely's full-year target of 400,000 units, the company said.

Geely's net profit grew 35% year on year to RMB 1.18 billion last year. Revenue grew to RMB 14.07 billion in 2009 from RMB 4.29 billion in 2008.

Geely recently took over Volvo from Ford Motor Co and aims to return the loss-making Swedish auto brand to profitability.

Chairman Li Shufu said that the company has raised about US$2.7 billion to fund the Volvo purchase and operations.