Vision 2020

Being the leading domestic developer in the field of new-energy vehicle, Foton is seizing the opportunity to build itself into a comprehensive automaker. "We set ourselves the goal of becoming the world's No.1, not just China's No.1," said Liu Guoqiang, Deputy General Manager of Foton in an interview with Jiefang Daily. According to Liu, in 2011 Foton is expected to sell 800,000 vehicles, a third of which will go to overseas market.

At the beginning of this year, Foton proposed the program of "Vision 2020," setting the goal of selling 4 million vehicles and reaping sales revenue of 400 billion yuan ($60.72 billion) in 2020, in the process ascending to the top 10 world largest automakers.

Deepening its going-out strategy is a key part of Foton's "Vision 2020" blueprint, which indicates that by 2020, the company will manage to sell 1.5 million vehicles in the overseas market, a 38-percent share of its total sales volume. In 2010, Foton's foreign sales reached 320,000 vehicles, taking only a 0.5-percent share of the company's total sales volume, underscoring a huge potential to meet the 2020 target.

 Industry insiders view Foton's ambitious goal in the overseas market as reasonable based on the new joint venture the company is set to establish with Daimler-Benz. In July 2010, Foton and Daimler-Benz signed a cooperation deal to form a new joint venture, in which each of them will hold a 50-percent share.

"With a total investment of 6.35 billion yuan ($964 million), the joint venture will officially come into operation by the end of March," said Wang Jinyu, General Manager of Foton on the company's website. Cooperation with Daimler is an important step for Foton to go abroad, Wang said.

According to Wang, Foton will invest 50 million euros to establish its European R&D center in Stuttgart, Germany, also the headquarters of Daimler-Benz, to conduct research on commercial vehicles and passenger cars. The new joint venture and the European R&D center will expand Foton's brand in foreign markets and enable the two companies to learn advanced technology from each other, said Wang.

Wang said that besides the advantage of the new joint venture, Foton's going-global plan also involves establishing five overseas production bases in emerging economies such as Russia, Mexico, Brazil, India and Indonesia.

As to China's traditional major automobile export markets like Africa and the Middle East; sources from Foton's Overseas Department show that the company will further enhance its presence, by making value-added vehicles to accommodate local road conditions and elevating its after-sale services in theses countries.