Japan's Mazda Motor Corp expects its sales in China to leap 80 percent in 2008 by more than doubling its dealership network in the world's second-largest auto market, a senior executive said on November 19.
Mazda plans to expand its web of car dealers across the huge but hyper-competitive market to 220 by April 2008 from just 104 now, Kiyoshi Ozaki, head of Mazda's Chinese business, told Reuters in an interview.
Mazda - about one-third owned by Ford Motor Co - aims to sell 180,000 vehicles in calendar 2008 after moving more than 100,000 vehicles in 2007, Ozaki said.
Ozaki did not give historical comparisons and Mazda does not break out country-specific sales figures. He also declined to say if Mazda had plans for future investments in China, the world's fourth-largest economy.
Mazda's production capacity in China of about 300,000 vehicles annually, taking into account its various partnerships, is not being fully utilised.
"We're not as rich as Toyota or Honda," Ozaki joked. The Japanese firm, which has long lagged larger compatriots such as Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co, and its largest shareholder Ford are scrambling to expand in a market wracked by fierce competition and over-capacity, which has sparked a years-long price war that is squeezing profit margins.
In August, Mazda and local partner First Automobile Works cut the price of Chinese-made Mazda6 wagons by nearly 20 percent in the southern province of Guangdong.
First Auto unit FAW Car Co, a car-making partner of Volkswagen AG and Toyota, also makes mid-sized sedans for Mazda, including the Mazda6 sedan and sports car, under a licensing agreement.
Still, China's market is expanding so rapidly that multinational players are chalking up impressive-looking sales growth.
Overall Chinese vehicle sales rose 24 percent in the first 10 months of the year to 7.15 million units. Mazda expects "another surprise year" in 2008, Ozaki said.
Changan Ford Mazda Automobile, a three-way tie-up among Ford, Mazda and Changan Automobile Co Ltd, sold 150,365 vehicles from January to September, a rise of 59 percent.