To give you an idea of the proportions the Chinese market may get the following years, it's enough to say Nissan's local joint venture, Dongfeng Motor (DFL), plans to sell, by itself, no less than 1 million vehicles in 2010.
The figure is some 100,000 units above the levels expected to be reached this year, namely 905,000 units. It includes passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles (LCVs), and heavy- and medium-duty trucks and buses (H&MCVs) but still, 2009 is some 28 percent above the levels registered in the largely crisis-free 2008.
"This has been a significant year for the growth of Nissan and DFL in China," Kimiyasu Nakamura, president of DFL said in a release. "With committed employees, a first-class dealership body and a strong product lineup, I'm confident we'll achieve sales of 1 million vehicles next year."
To meet the target it set for itself for 2010, the joint venture plans to expand its infrastructure and perform process modifications. The latter includes the addition of the new light commercial vehicle plant in Zhengzhou at Henan province, upgrading production facilities and changing production line speed.
Additionally, DFL will introduce two new models in 2010, the Global Compact Car and the NV200 minivan.
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