CHINA: Chery eyes 30% export boost

Chery Automobile aims to increase vehicle exports by over 30% this year, an executive has said.

"Our target is to sell 120,000 vehicles in overseas markets this year," company spokesman Jin Yibo told Reuters. It sold 91,986 vehicles last year, mostly in southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America and Africa.

Chery, which started selling cars overseas in 2002, is now China's biggest vehicle exporter with year-to-date shipments over 500,000 units.

It operates 16 assembly plants overseas, including a US$400m facility in Brazil that will eventually be capable of making 150,000 cars per year.

Chery has also been exploring joint venture opportunities with potential partners including Fuji Heavy Industries' Subaru and Tata Motor's Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR).

Fuji said in December the two companies were in the final stages of talks to build a JPY30bn ($367m)factory in the northern Chinese city of Dalian, initially building 50,000 mid-sized vehicles a year from 2013 and eventually raising that to 150,000, Reuters noted

But Chery has so far declined to confirm deals with either Fuji or Tata. Tata has also declined to comment on the JLR-Chery talks.