China's No.2 automaker's net profit down 4.6% in 2011

Dongfeng Motor Group Co., China's second largest carmaker, said Tuesday its 2011 net profit fell 4.6 percent year on year to 10.48 billion yuan (1.7 billion U.S. dollars).

Sales revenue rose 7.4 percent year on year to 131.4 billion yuan, the company said. It sold 2.17 million vehicles last year, up 11.7 percent year on year.

The impact of Japan's earthquake, new tax expenditure at joint ventures, and prices declines amid fierce market competition contributed to the profit decline, it said.

Dongfeng Motor expected its production and sales to grow at higher than industry average rate in the coming few years. Car sales in the world's biggest auto market is expected to grow 7 percent in 2012, it said.

The automaker's capital expenditure for the next two years amounted to 41.6 billion yuan, it said. Its annual production capacity is expected to be increased to 2.77 million units by the end of the year.