Honda plans to sell 400 Civic hybrids annually in China

Dongfeng Honda, the joint venture of China's Dongfeng Motor Corp<600006><489> and Honda Motor, plans to sell only 400 units of the imported Honda Civic hybrid by the end of this year, a senior executive at the company told the sources.

The forecasting annual sales volume of the model is much lower than the company's original goal of selling 500 to 1,000 units annually.

Honda Motor becomes the second automaker followed Toyata Motor to offer hybrid cars in China.

Mitsuru Ozaki, general manager of Dongfeng Honda, said the price of Civic hybrid had not been confirmed, but it would be higher than the price of Toyota Prius. The current price of Toyota Prius is about RMB 300,000 (US$40,000) per vehicle.

Mitsuru did not expect the company could make any profits through this business since the higher price may scare away customers.

However, Honda Civic hybrid will help to promote the image of the company through the cutting-edge technology and environmental-friendly products.