Wu Pengnian, vice general manager of joint venture SGMW, told media Thursday that the company has raised its sales target for this year to 850,000 units, instead of the scheduled 700,000 units.

Officially launched in November 2002, SGMW is a three-shareholder joint venture, with two domestic partners – SAIC Motor Corporation Limited and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co Limited, and a foreign one, GM China that produces mini and small vehicles.
 
In the first half of 2009, sales of Chinese small vehicles market increased 40 percent, and SGMW ranks No. 1 with 520,000 units sold.

At the same time, SGMW’s rival Changan Auto set its sales target at 1.2 million units for 2009, pushing SGMW to invest in greater productivity.

SGMW said the company would improve its annual productivity from 900,000 units to 1 million, and increase its capacity to make 875,000 engines a year, 175,000 more than previously planned.

Agencies and Shi Jierui contributed to this story