Denway Motors chairman Zhang Fangyou is more optimistic than his industry rivals about car sales this year after his firm's joint venture, Guangzhou Honda Automobile, posted growth of 73 per cent to 202,000 units last year.

After yesterday's extraordinary general meeting at which shareholders approved the company's stake increase in Guangzhou Honda, from 47.5 per cent to 50 per cent, Mr Zhang forecast nationwide sales growth of 15 to 20 per cent this year, against industry predictions of 10 to 15 per cent.

Last year's drastic slowdown in the growth of car sales - from 49 per cent in the first quarter to about 2 per cent in the fourth quarter - was blamed in part on tightened consumer credit.