Chongqing Changan Auto Co., China¡¯s fourth-largest vehicle maker, swung back to the black for the third quarter of this year, aided by strong sales growth.

Changan Auto, partner of Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp., said Saturday that it posted a net profit of 98.03 million yuan (US$12.42 million) in July-September against a loss of 77.26 million a year earlier.

Turnover surged to 5.65 billion yuan from 3.86 billion a year earlier. Changan Auto said it sold 397,480 vehicles in the first nine months of this year, up 18 percent from a year earlier.

Strong sales at the venture with Ford mean net profit for the whole of this year will more than double from 236.75 million yuan in 2005, Changan Auto noted.

In the first nine months of this year, net profit surged 146 percent to 533.33 million yuan, vastly outpacing the company¡¯s earlier forecast of a more than 50 percent rise.

Changan Auto, Ford and Mazda are expanding their Chongqing plant to make 200,000 cars a year. They are also building a plant in Nanjing, three hours by road from Shanghai, which will have an initial capacity of 160,000 vehicles per year. -ShenZhen Daily