Asia:Mazda raises 2003 China sales goal 56% - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Stacy94PGT · 09-16-2003, 06:39

By Detroit News staff reports, Bloomberg News and wire services

TOKYO -- Mazda Motor Corp., a third owned by Ford Motor Co., has raised its unit sales target in China for this calendar year by 56 percent, newly appointed president Hisakazu Imaki told a group of reporters at a meeting in Tokyo.

Hiroshima-based Mazda now plans to sell 70,000 vehicles in China in 2003, Imaki said. The company achieved its previously- stated 45,000-unit goal for the market in August, he said.

Stacy94PGT · 09-16-2003, 06:44

Mazda says aims to sell 70,000 cars in China this year

Reuters / September 16, 2003

TOKYO (Reuters) -- The president of Mazda Motor Corp. said on Tuesday it aimed to sell 70,000 cars in the booming Chinese market this year, an increase of 25,000 units over initial estimates.

"We reached our full-year target (for China) by the end of August, mainly because of brisk sales of the Mazda6 sedan," Hisakazu Imaki told a small group of reporters.

Imaki said the most pressing issue for Mazda's China strategy was how to increase production.

Mazda outsources car production to Chinese local partner FAW Car Co., a unit of China's largest auto maker, First Automotive Works, sending knock-down kits from Japan.

Imaki also said Mazda was in the midst of discussions on strategies for China with Ford Motor Co., which owns one-third of Mazda.

Imaki took the helm at Mazda last month after his predecessor Lewis Booth's sudden departure to head Ford of Europe.