BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Beijing Automotive Group aims to more than double annual sales by 2015, gaining momentum from mid-market to high-end cars and greener "new energy" vehicles, chairman Xu Heyi said on Wednesday.
Speaking during the annual meeting of China's parliament, Xu said that the state-owned company expects to sell a total of 3.6 million vehicles a year by 2015, up from 1.7 million in 2012 and the 2.1 million it expects to sell this year.
"Beijing Auto has been adjusting its product line-up in recent years to focus on middle to high-end models," Xu said, without clarifying the company's criteria for the two segments.
He said that these models should account for more than half the company's sales by 2015, against 36 percent now.
Beijing Auto produces vehicles on its own and in joint ventures with global automakers, including Daimler (Xetra: 710000 - news) , the owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand, and Hyundai . Most of its cars are sold within China.
Xu said that the company also intends to sell more electric cars and other alternative-fuel vehicles.
It has already built facilities on the outskirts of China's capital to develop and manufacture new-energy vehicles, he said, adding that these have capacity to produce 40,000 vehicles a year.
"Beijing Auto has become one of the few Chinese carmakers with the ability to develop core components for clean-energy vehicles, and we also have our own supply chain," Xu said.
(Editing by David Goodman)
