• Los Angeles Times, Thursday, July 19, 2007 10:31 AM

As China moves to overtake the U.S. market in auto sales in a few years, Honda plans to create a new brand with its Chinese partner, a first for that country. Foreign carmakers have heretofore produced cars developed outside China to protect their designs and engineering.

Masaya Nagai, a Honda spokesman in Beijing, says the move is a natural progression that Honda has followed in other countries, including the U.S., where Honda has a design center with the capability of creating locally tailored models.

Nagai said the new line of cars would initially be derived from existing Honda vehicles. Honda launched production in China in 1999. For the first half of this year, its sales in China totaled 187,000 units, up 31% from the same period a year earlier. Through the first five months of 2007, Honda ranked No. 5 in sales volume in China, after VW, General Motors, Chevy and Toyota.

Read the whole story at Los Angeles Times »