China's Chery Automobile Co aims to grow its car sales by nearly a fifth in 2009 banking largely on government support to bolster demand amid a slowing economy.

 

Chery aims to sell 419,000 cars this year, up 17.7 percent from 356,000 units in 2008, its chairman Yi Tongyao said in a statement on its website over the weekend. Chery, the maker of QQ, the country's best-selling compact sedan, reported a rare decline of 6.56 percent in 2008 as the global recession took a toll on the once-booming industry.

 

But its January sales hit a monthly record of more than 35,000 cars, the statement said, making it China's largest national car brand, lagging only the local ventures of General Motors, Volkswagen AG, Hyundai Motor and Nissan Motor.

 

Analysts attributed the rebound in January sales to China's recent policy incentives, including halving the auto purchase tax for cars with engine sizes below 1.6 liters.

 

"The policies are a big help for companies like Chery and Geely as they are mostly playing at the lower-end segment," said Yi Junfeng, an analyst with Changjiang Securities.

 

Geely Automobile Holdings said last month that it aimed to grow its car sales by 25 percent in 2009.

 

Great Wall Wall Motor Co, China's biggest SUV maker which is diversifying into small car production, has targeted a 70 percent jump in its vehicle sales this year, a company executive said last month.

 

Car sales growth in China slowed to a single-digit rate in 2008 for the first time in at least 10 years, spurring government steps to bolster the industry, one of the pillars for the world's third-largest economy.

 

Chery has said it plans to launch more than 10 new models in 2009.