Changan plans to sell 2.51m vehicles this year

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 12) - The Changan Automobile Group aims to sell 2.51 million vehicles this year, the automaker said in its recently released 2011 sales strategy. Changan will focus on further own brand development, hoping to sell 1.9 million self branded vehicles, equivalent to 75.7 percent of its overall sales goal.

Selling more cars than Daimler

2010 saw the Chongqing-based auto manufacturer selling over 2.37 million vehicles, among which 1.76 million, or 74.2 percent, carried the Changan badge. This proportion of own brand sales to total brands sales is exceptionally high among Chinese manufacturers.

According to total car and LCV (light commercial vehicle) sales statistics released by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) last year, Changan Automobile Group's own brand volume is the highest in the country, and ranks number 13 worldwide. In addition, the figures show the automaker selling more cars, nearly 500,000 more, then the number 12 company Daimler AG.

1m sedans in five years

What the OICA charts don't show, however, is that of the 1.76 million Changan branded cars sold last year, only .21 million were sedans. The overwhelming majority of the automaker's business was in compacts, taking up about 90 percent of its total sales. In response to this, Changan is looking to increase sedan sales to 22 percent of its total sales volume by 2015. In other words, the automaker hopes for sedan sales to reach one million in five years, more than quadrupling its 2010 sales volume.

Highs and lows

Another sticking point for Changan, the Hafei and Changhe brands' 2010 performance left a lot to be desired, with total yearly sales of 21,600 and 1,335 vehicles respectively. Looking forward to the new year, Kuang Jinwen, Changan Automobile's general manager, said the company will unveil three new models to complement its hot selling Yuexiang, Ben Ben Mini (pictured), and the newly unveiled CX series. We are all looking forward to see what Changan has in store for us this year.