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Sino-French Auto Maker Reports Sales Rise
Dongfeng-Citroen Automobile Co. Ltd., the largest Sino-French joint venture based in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, sold 19,400 cars in the first five months of the year.
According to Michel Allain, manager of the French side, the sales were up by 34 percent from the same period last year.
Availability rate of Citroen cars on the Chinese market has risen to 9.1 percent.
Dongfeng-Citroen Automobile Co. Ltd. is jointly financed by Dongfeng Automobile Company, French Citroen and its banking partners with an investment of 10.36 billion yuan (about 1.25 billion U.S. dollars).
Dongfeng's investment accounts for 70 percent in the joint venture, while Citroen owns 25 percent of the stake and two French banks, the Banque Nationale de Paris and Societe Generale, own a combined 5 percent. The joint venture is designed to be able to produce 300,000 cars and 400,000 engines annually and will be completed in two stages.
The joint venture has so far built a marketing network that covers 243 cities on the Chinese mainland and has 502 sales outlets.
Localization rate of the cars produced by the joint venture is 85 percent, and some of the spare parts made by the joint venture are exported to overseas.
According to Michel Allain, the joint venture's export of spare parts will amount to 100 million French francs this year.
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