FAW-Toyota sales up 60% in H1 to 178,000 units

Shanghai, July 8 (Gasgoo.com) FAW-Toyota sold 178,000 vehicles in the first half of 2008, up 60% from one year earlier, Dong Xiuhui, sales department director of FAW Toyota Motor Sales Co., released the figures to Beijing Morning reporters. FAW-Toyota will not lower either the products prices or its annual sales target of 400,000 units, he said.

According to Dong, 178,000 units are the final sales data. In the first five months, FAW-Toyota sales reached 157,700 units, ranking fourth among domestic automakers. Corolla is still the best-selling model, totaling 110,000 units along with Corolla EX with monthly sales at 18,000 units on average.

Based on the auto industry's usual ratio of 4.5:5.5 for the sales in the first and second half of the year, FAW-Toyota posted a positive 44.5% of its annual sales target by the end of June. However, considering the upcoming Olympic Games and competitive market, Dong believed they faced a heavy pressure of 220,000 sales target for the second half of the year

Speaking of the flat sales of New Vios due to its high price, Dong said though New Vios only sold 3,500 units per month, they would keep an eye on this model for months without lowering the sales target.