Volvo Pursues 25% Of China's Heavy Truck Market

BEIJING: Car manufacturer Volvo has its eye on a 25% share of China's heavy-duty truck market, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The ambitious plan is part of Volvo's expansion moves through Asia following its October alliance with Japan's Mitsubishi Motors, which saw the two companies gain a 30% share of the regional medium-sized bus and truck market. Volvo hopes to get a substantial toehold in China's heavy truck market "in the next few years," the report said. Volvo is now in the preparatory stages of setting up its first heavy-duty truck joint-venture in China, expected to begin operation in the first half of next year, the Xinhua report said. Ulf Norman, president of Volvo's China operations, told the news agency that Volvo would bring "advanced technologies of truck manufacturing" to its planned joint-venture with the China National Heavy-Duty Truck Corp. in eastern Jinan, Shandong province. The company hopes to achieve annual sales of 10,000 trucks within its first five years of operation. Nearly 40,000 heavy-duty trucks are currently sold in China each year, but the figure is expected to grow due to "increased investment in road construction," Xinhua said. Volvo also is negotiating a deal that would allow the company to set up a city bus manufacturing joint-venture in Shanghai. Volvo already has a luxury coach joint-venture operation in northern Xi'an, Shaanxi province