Changan Auto aims high at high-end car market

Shanghai November 5 (Gasgoo.com) Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. is now road testing eight of its new high-end sedans, with which the automaker aims to penetrate well into the A-, B-, C- and D-Class market in China, Shanghai Securities News reported Friday.

Changan launched on October 31 a new logo for its fast-growing passenger car business. Its President Zhang Baolin said at the launching ceremony that all the company's sedans will from now on carry the new V shape logo, including the higher-end sedan currently under development.
 
In the first ten months of this year, Changan reported sales of 1.50 million vehicles, up 32.87% from a year earlier. Last month, the company saw its sales jump 29.92% year on year to 165,796 units. During the first three quarters, the company witnessed sales of its own brand sedans growing 82.49% compared to same period last year to 132,000 units, the company said in a statement released on November 3.

On September 30, Changan broke ground on a 11.5 billion yuan ($1.73 billion) plant in Beijing, where it plans to manufacture more than 10 models, including both own brand mid- and high-end sedans and new energy vehicles.

The new plant is located in the Fangshan Doudian Industrial Base of Beijing, and will be capable of producing 500,000 vehicles and 500,000 engines per year after going into operation.

Company Chairman Xu Liuping has set an ambitious target to sell 3 million cars annually in 2012, rising to 4.5 million units by 2015 and to 6 million by 2020, according to a report from Reuters.