Dongfeng Motor Group, China’s second-largest automaker, has booked a 13% fall in 2012 profit, its biggest drop since 2005, due to slow sales of Japanese cars made at its Chinese joint ventures following the outbreak of a territorial row between the two countries.
Dongfeng, which parteners with Nissan Motor and Honda, earned CNY9.1bn in net profit last year, down from CNY10.5bn a year earlier and compared with a consensus forecast of CNY8.5bn of three analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
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Its outlook may improve moderately in 2013 as new models, including the new Nissan Teana, which was launched earlier this month, bring consumers back to the showrooms, analysts told the news agency.
A recovery in China’s economy would also help boost demand for Dongfeng’s medium and heavy truck business, which took a hit last year due to a slowdown in construction activity, they added.
