Beiqi Foton Motor said yesterday that its vehicle sales in the first half of the year increased 29.44% from a year earlier to 371,100 vehicles, with sales of its Auman trucks soaring 85.8%. In June alone, the company sold 54,100 vehicles, up 5.66% year on year, media reported.

Foton Motor, China's leading  producer of commercial vehicles, expects its net profit in the first half to surge 150% from the net profit of 453 million yuan ($66.6 mln) of a year earlier.

In the first six months, Foton continued to be the top seller of China's commercial vehicles, with sales of 363,100 units (up 28.94% y/y), followed by Dongfeng (344,600 units, up 71.37%), FAW (219,200 units, 67.71%), Jianghuai (145,500 units, up 51.33%), and Sinotruk (115,600 units, 69.80%).   

Beiqi Foton sold 602,021 vehicles in 2009, up 47% year on year. The company's net profit for 2009 was 1.04 billion yuan, up from 345.9 million yuan the company achieved in 2008.

Beiqi Foton Motor signed a final agreement on earlier this month with Europe's biggest truck-maker Daimler AG to set up a 50:50 joint venture in Beijing for producing 100,000 medium- and heavy-duty trucks and 45,000 heavy diesel engines annually.

The trucks to be produced at the $937 million venture will bear Foton's Auman nameplate and use engine technology from Daimler's Mercedes-Benz unit, which operates a car venture with Foton's parent Beijing Auto (BAIC).