Japan's No 3 car maker, Honda Motor co, announced Monday that it will introduce the Acura, a luxury sedan car developed in North America, to China next year.

The first Acura, to be sold in China from next spring, will be a 3.5-litre RL sedan, Honda said in a statement.

This will be the first time the Acura has been sold outside of North America, Honda said.

Honda Motor (China) Investment Co Ltd said that the company expects to sell 3,000 Acuras next year, rising to 10,000 to 15,000 vehicles annually within the next three years.

The company will set up 10 exclusive dealerships for the Acura next year, with that number exceeding 30 over the next three years.

Asked whether Honda will produce the Acura in China, an official from Honda Motor (China) said, "We have no plans at present as it is a premium brand with small initial sales."

Analysts said Honda plans to introduce the Acura into China partly because of high sales of other luxury Japanese sedans in the country.

Nissan's joint venture in China sold more than 30,000 2.3- and 3.5-litre Teana sedans in the first half of this year.

Toyota's joint venture in China has sold more than 10,000 3.0-litre Crown sedans since the model was launched in March.

Honda is one of the fastest-growing foreign car makers in China.

The company's sales in China surged by 41.4 percent year-on-year to more than 117,600 vehicles in the first half of this year, Honda said.

Honda said earlier this year that it aims to sell 271,000 vehicles in China this year, up from 215,000 units last year.

The company runs two vehicle ventures with Guangzhou Automobile Group and Dongfeng Motor Corp.

It also has a totally export-oriented car venture with the same two firms. The tripartite venture started to export small cars to Europe at the beginning of this month.

(China Daily July 26, 2005)