Chang'an Motor says it will start to build its own-brand in Iran in the first half of next year as its latest major push into the overseas market. The company aims to sell 200,000 vehicles abroad a year by 2010, up from 48,000 units last year. To achieve the goal, Chang'an plans to have a total of eight overseas manufacturing sites and launch eight commercial vehicle and passenger car models abroad.

The group now has factories in Malaysia and Pakistan, making microbuses. Chang'an said it will also consider making forays into the US and European markets in the future. But it did not reveal a time frame. In the first half of this year, Chang'an's overseas sales jumped 40 percent. News also said Chang'an announced that it aimed to move more than 1 million vehicles this year, up from 857,700 units in 2007.