Dongfeng Honda sells over 280000 vehicles in 2012

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai January 20) - According to a Nanfang Daily report appearing earlier this week, Dongfeng Honda's sales grew 10.5 percent last year, far above the average 6.8 percent growth the passenger automobile market as a whole managed to achieve. Dongfeng Honda's sales for the year totaled 282,000 units, marking a new record for the joint venture. Accounting for the sharp decline in Chinese consumer demand Japanese automobile brands suffered in the latter half of the year, the JV's performance last year was very impressive.

Dongfeng Honda's flagship model, the 2012 CR-V SUV (pictured above), attracted 169,000 new orders last year, 5.6 percent more than the amount sold in 2011. From its debut in late February to the beginning of August, the CR-V's sales managed to exceed 100,000 units. The CR-V is also the first SUV brand to have sold over 700,000 units in China. The Civic's sales last year totaled 79,700 units, representing year-on-year growth of 2.1 percent. Dongfeng Honda also released its first minivan model, the Elysion (pictured below), last year.

In addition to its sales achievements, 2012 was also an important year for Dongfeng Honda's production operations. In July, the JV's second automobile factory officially began operation. The site boasts an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles, and has helped boost the JV's overall production capacity to 480,000 vehicles per year.

2013 is Dongfeng Honda's tenth year operating in China. The JV expects its sales this year to exceed 1.5 million vehicles. Furthermore, the JV has plans to release the brand new Concept S this year, which is exclusively targeted towards Chinese drivers.