The First Auto Works (FAW), China's leading auto maker, expects to increase annual sales of its own car model to 1 million by 2008.

The auto company, also partner of a number of foreign auto makers including Volkswagen and Toyota, told a press conference Tuesday evening that it expects to sell 2 million cars in 2008, half of which will be of its own model.

FAW, founded in 1953, produced China's first sedan model Red Flag, or Hongqi in Chinese.

Teng Tieji, vice general-manager of FAW, said the first sedan has rolled off the assembly line at FAW's new production base for Red Flag, which started construction in July last year.

The company is designing its own Red Flag model and may put it on the market in 2006, said insiders.

At the Beijing Auto Show, which opened here Wednesday, the company displayed a new fleet model of Red Flags together with a series of sedan models including Bora, Golf, Jetta and Audi A4 produced jointly with Volkswagen, Toyota and Mazda with its Japanese and US partners.