Geely aims to triple exports
By Gong Zhengzheng (China Daily)Updated: 2007-01-05 11:21
The rules, which will come into effect on March 1, will introduce a licensing
system to prevent domestic carmakers from cut-throat battles abroad and to weed
out firms that are too small to compete internationally, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
In August, Geely was announced as
one of China's 160 vehicle and spare parts exporting enterprises by the
ministry.
Xu Changming, an auto industry analyst with the State
Information Center, said: "Only small firms which sell a tiny number of cars
abroad will be deprived of exporting rights under the new rules.
"China's
vehicle exports will continue to grow rapidly."
There are more than 1,000
companies in China exporting vehicles, of which 600 sold less than 10 units each
overseas last year, Xu said.
China's overall vehicle exports doubled to
340,000 units last year from 2005 with the number of passenger cars exported
tripling to 90,000, according to data from the ministry.
Xu predicted the
nation's 2007 vehicle exports will reach 500,000 units.
An executive from
Chery, China's top car exporter, said in November that the firm aims to sell
80,000 to 100,000 vehicles abroad this year. It exported 50,000 units in
2005.
Geely said yesterday that it planned to lift its overall sales by
half to 296,000 cars this year from last year. Its 2006 sales ranked No 10 among
Chinese automakers.
It expects its share in China's car market to climb
to more than 5 percent this year from 4.6 percent last year, the firm
added.
Sales of all made-in-China vehicles are estimated to have exceeded
7 million units last year, enabling the nation to outpace Japan and become the
world's second-biggest vehicle market.
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