The largest Chinese heavy truck maker China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Corp, also known as Sinotruk Group, expects to sell 150,000 trucks in 2010, media reported recently, citing the group’s chairman.

At an annual business conference over the weekend, Sinotruk Group chairman Ma Chunji said that the company plans to launch new models, expand its distribution network and open more dealerships nationwide next year to boost its sales.

For the first 11 months, Sinotruk sold 115,000 heavy-duty trucks, up 9.69% from a year earlier, achieving sales revenue of more than 50 billion yuan ($7.32 bln). Full-year sales are expected to reach 125,000 trucks. Its sales this year hit 120,000 units on December 11.

Sinotruk said last week that it had become the world’s second largest maker of heavy trucks in terms of annual output and sales. Its major overseas rivals Daimler and Volvo sell about 250,000 and 100,000 trucks a year.

In July, Volvo agreed to end its truck venture with Sinotruk after production had been suspended for several years, but in October German heavy truck maker MAN said it had received China’s regulatory approval to acquire 25% stake in Sinotruk.