French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen said yesterday that its joint venture with China's Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd returned to profitability last year after two years of losses.

The company said in its report on 2006 results that the venture, based in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, made 84 million euros in operating profit, compared with an operating loss of 54 million euros in 2005.

According to figures provided by the French carmaker in 2005, the venture's 2004 operating losses amounted to almost 100 million euros.

Liu Weidong, president of the company, told China Daily yesterday that it earned 500 million yuan in net profit last year.

The financial turnaround came after strong sales growth and cost-cutting efforts. It sold 202,500 vehicles last year, a 43.7 percent increase from 2005, the report said.

The joint venture said previously that it cut costs by 1 billion yuan last year through using more locally made spare parts and cutting inventories.

Despite the rebound, the carmaker missed its profit forecast. According to PSA Peugeot Citroen's 2006 interim report released in July, the venture aimed to earn 100 million euros in operating profit for the full year.

Liu Qixin, a spokesman from the venture, said yesterday that the company expects even higher profits in 2007.

It announced last month that it expects to sell 260,000 vehicles and slash costs by an additional 1 billion yuan this year.

"It could perform better in sales and financial results in coming years by launching new products," said Zhao Shengli, an auto industry analyst with Galaxy Securities Co Ltd

The venture will introduce three new models this year as part of its plan to roll out at least eight new products by 2009.

It currently makes the Citroen models Fukang, Elysee, Picasso, Xsara, C2 and C-Triomphe as well as the Peugeot 307 and 206.

The company began building a new plant in Wuhan last year that will assemble high-end Citroen and Peugeot sedans by 2009.

Zhao predicted overall vehicle sales in China will grow to 8.5 million units this year from 7.22 million in 2006.

(China Daily February 8, 2007)