China’s Changan Automobile Group’s sales last year rose 33% to 306,000 units, the Xinhua News Agency’s China Economic Information Service reports.

The company manufactured 329,000 units last year, an increase of 33%, and it plans to raise that to 500,000 units by 2005, according to Xinhua.

State-run Changan Auto’s joint venture with Ford rolled out its first China-built Fiesta model last month. Ford plans to build up to 50,000 units a year at the JV facility in the central city of Chongqing.