In an interview with a auto news website on 22nd May, Dongfeng Honda Sales Deputy General Manager Li Peng confirmed that the joint venture is preparing to release a new small SUV to compete with the Ford Ecosport and Buick Encore.

However, the new model will not make its debut until at least 2015, he added. Mr. Li made the comments on the same day that the 2WD version of the CR-V SUV made its market debut.

Over the past four months, sales of Japanese brand vehicles in the country have begun to recover, with both Guangqi Honda and Guangqi Toyota reporting normal year-on-year sales growth rates from January to April. Sales growth rates for fellow Sino-Japanese joint ventures Dongfeng Honda, Dongfeng Nissan and FAW Toyota, which are still negative, have also noticeably improved during that time period.

Mr. Li explains that, since Dongfeng Honda has yet to release a brand new model this year to compete with last April's newly released CR-V SUV, it has been difficult for the joint venture to surpass last year's sales volume. However, Mr. Li is confident that the JV will report positive year-on-year sales growth by the latter half of the year.

Dongfeng Honda's sales target for 2013 is set at 300,000 vehicles, six percent more than the actual amount it sold last year. The JV is planning to release the new Jade this September. Around the same time, it will make small updates to several models in its current product lineup, such as adding the new EXIi and VTi versions to the CR-V.