Changan's net profits grow over 120% in first half of 2013

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai July 16) - Changan Automobile's net profit for the first half of the year is expected to be between 1.26 billion yuan and 1.36 billion yuan ($203.85m-$220.03m), Securities Daily reported today. The figures, which come from the manufacturer's recently released financial performance review, are equivalent to year-on-year growth of 121 percent to 138 percent.

Changan manufactured and sold a total of 192,000 own brand sedans from January to June, achieving year-on-year growth of 81 percent. "You could say that Changan was able to sell a year's worth of own brand sedans in [only] half a year," Changan Media Spokesman Jiang Aiqun stated in a recent interview with the press, adding that by not developing own brand core technology and merely relying on foreign-owned joint venture companies, the Chinese automotive industry will never be able to control its own future.

Changan's joint ventures sold a total of 515,000 over the first six months of the year. The Changan Ford JV was especially successful, with its sales almost doubling from the previous year. Its year-on-year sales growth rate of 93.1 percent made it the country's quickest growing JV enterprise.

In all, the manufacturer produced 1.04 million automobiles and sold 1.05 million automobiles over the six month period. The numbers, which mark new records for Changan, represent year-on-year growth of 22.5 percent and 18.3 percent, respectively. It took only four years for Changan to grow from selling a million vehicles annually to being able to sell a million vehicles in six months time, compared to the 15 years it took for the manufacturer to initially achieve an annual sales volume of one million vehicles.

At this rate, Changan looks set to reach its 2013 sales target of two million vehicles. As Mr. Jiang explains, the differences between good and slow sales seasons does not greatly impact the manufacturer's overall performance. "[Regardless of] different time periods, Changan's sales volume will not fluctuate greatly," Mr. Jiang stated.