【英语中国】中国三大汽车厂商收益大幅增长

Three Chinese car makers posted strong earnings growth Wednesday, powered by Beijing's measures to boost car sales.

The government-stimulus measures, designed to encourage auto purchases during the global economic downturn, helped China overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest auto market in 2009.

But while car-sales growth in China was fast at the start of 2010, it has moderated in recent months partly because of a reduction in government incentives.

SAIC Motor Corp., China's largest car maker by sales volume, said its first-half net profit more than quadrupled from a year earlier.

The Shanghai-based company, which has vehicle-making joint ventures with General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG, said its net profit for the six months ended June 30 was 5.87 billion yuan ($863.6 million), up from 1.46 billion yuan a year earlier.

Revenue totaled 147.62 billion yuan during the period, up from 61.59 billion yuan a year earlier.

The company said last month it sold 1.77 million vehicles in the first half, up more than 44% from the year-earlier period.

FAW Car Co.-a unit of unlisted China FAW Group Corp., China's No. 2 auto maker-said its first-half net profit more than doubled from a year earlier because of strong sales.

FAW Car said its net profit for the six months ended June 30 was 1.34 billion yuan, up from 535.28 million yuan a year earlier.

Revenue rose 54% to 17.91 yuan billion, up from 11.63 billion yuan a year earlier.

The company said it sold more than 120,000 vehicles in the first half, up more than 70% from 70,000 a year ago.

Apart from its proprietary Hongqi sedans, FAW Car produces Mazda 6 models under a technical license from Japan's Mazda Motor Corp.

Meanwhile, Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. said its first-half net profit rose 35% from a year earlier.

The Hong Kong-listed unit of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., which this month completed a $1.8 billion acquisition of Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co., said it remains on track to meet its target of selling 22% more cars this year to 400,000 units, despite rising competition in both domestic and export markets.

Zhejiang-based Geely Automobile said its net profit for the six months ended June 30 was 804.8 million yuan, up from 595.9 million yuan.

Revenue rose 55% to 9.24 billion yuan from 5.95 billion yuan.

Company Chairman Li Shufu said he sees cooperation opportunities between Geely and Volvo Cars, particularly in technical areas.

Mr. Li, who is also chairman of Geely's parent, said Zhejiang Geely is pushing forward with plans to produce Volvo cars domestically in China, though he said no decision has been made on when production will begin, citing a complicated approval process that 'takes time.'

Mr. Li has said Zhejiang Geely intends to inject Volvo Cars into its Hong Kong-listed unit in the long run. When asked about those plans Wednesday, he said the 'original plan hasn't changed,' without elaborating.

Geely Automobile completed a deal in 2008 with its parent to raise its stakes in the group's main car making operations to 91% from 46.8%, becoming one of the few companies not incorporated in China to own a majority stake in a mainland auto manufacturer. The joint ventures include Zhejiang Geely Automobile Co. and Shanghai Maple Guorun Automobile Co.

Wang Ming / Joanne Chiu

北京出台的提振汽车销售措施的推动，三家中国汽车生产商周三公布了强劲的收益增长。

为了在全球经济低迷期间鼓励购买汽车而推出的刺激措施帮助中国2009年取代美国成为世界最大的汽车市场。

不过，尽管2010年初中国的汽车销量增长很快，近几个月却有所放缓，部分原因是政府刺激力度的减小。

中国销量最大的汽车生产商上海汽车集团股份有限公司(SAIC Motor Corp.)说，今年上半年净利润同比增长了三倍以上。

上海汽车与通用汽车(General Motors Co.)和大众汽车olkswagen AG)都成立有汽车生产合资企业。该公司说，截至6月30日的六个月中，净利润从去年同期的人民币14.6亿元增至58.7亿元（合8.636亿美元）。

上半年收入从去年同期的人民币615.9亿元上升至1476.2亿元。

该公司上个月说，上半年汽车销量为177万辆，同比增长了44%以上。

一汽轿车股份有限公司(FAW Car Co.)说，受强劲销售的推动，上半年净利润同比增长了一倍以上。该公司为中国第二大汽车厂商、未上市的中国第一汽车集团公司(China FAW Group Corp.)的子公司。

一汽轿车说，截至6月30日的六个月中，净利润从去年同期的人民币5.3528亿元增至13.4亿元。

收入从去年同期的人民币116.3亿元增至179.1亿元，增长54%。

该公司说，上半年汽车销量逾12万辆，较去年同期的7万辆增长了70%。

除自主品牌红旗轿车外，一汽轿车还获得了日本马自达(Mazda Motor Corp.)的技术许可，生产马自达6型轿车。

与此同时，吉利汽车控股有限公司(Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.)说，上半年净利润同比增长35%。

吉利汽车是浙江吉利控股集团(Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.)在香港上市的子公司。该公司说，尽管国内市场和出口市场的竞争不断加剧，今年仍有望实现销量增长22%、达到40万辆的销售目标。吉利控股集团本月完成了斥资18亿美元收购福特汽车(Ford Motor Co.)旗下沃尔沃(Volvo)的交易。

位于浙江的吉利汽车说，截至6月30日的六个月中，净利润从去年同期的人民币5.959亿元上升至8.048亿元。

收入从人民币59.5亿元上升至92.4亿元，增长55%。

吉利汽车董事长李书福说，他看到了吉利与沃尔沃的合作机会，特别是在技术领域。

李书福也是吉利汽车母公司的董事长。他说，吉利控股集团正在推进在中国国内生产沃尔沃汽车的计划，不过他也说，至于何时开始生产还没有做出决定，原因是“需要花时间”的复杂审批程序。

李书福曾说，吉利控股集团的长远计划是要把沃尔沃注入到在香港上市的子公司中。周三被问及相关计划时，他说，最初的计划没有改变，不过没有详细说明。

2008年，吉利汽车与其母公司达成了一项交易，把在集团中主要汽车生产业务中的股权从46.8%增加至91%，进而成为少数几家不是在中国成立、而拥有大陆汽车生产商多数股权的公司之一。合资企业包括浙江吉利汽车有限公司(Zhejiang Geely Automobile Co.)和上海华普国润汽车有限公司(Shanghai Maple Guorun Automobile Co.)。

Wang Ming / Joanne Chiu