Shanghai VW, the joint venture between German carmaker Volkswagen and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), said it plans to export 600 Polo compact sedans to Australia annually over the next five years.

The Polo will be sold in Australia through Volkswagen's existing networks in the country, the venture said.

The plan was announced by Chen Zhixin, managing director of the venture, on Friday, in Shanghai.

"The Polo meets all international standards and its price in Australia will be similar to that in China," said Folker Weissgerber, a board member of Volkswagen.

"This indicates Shanghai VW has become an internationally competitive player," Weissgerber said.

The Polo sedan retails between 113,800 yuan (US$13,700) and 144,800 yuan (US$17,500) in China.

"We hope Shanghai VW will become an important Volkswagen Asia-Pacific export base in the near future," said SAIC President Hu Maoyuan.

Shanghai VW exports the Santana, Santana 2000 and Passat sedans.

The Polo export plan seems to be a surprise as most of the world's major automakers producing in China are targeting the nation's fast-growing market and only a few have plans to export.

General Motors' joint venture in Shanghai started to export the Buick wagons to the Philippines in 2001.

Japan's Honda Motor has set up an export-orientated car joint venture with two Chinese partners in South China's Guangdong Province.

"China's auto industry will eventually have to look to export markets, as the domestic market is unlikely to rise rapidly forever," said Jia Xinguang, an auto analyst based in Beijing.

China is calling for domestic automakers to speed up efforts to export vehicles in large numbers by 2010.

A small number of home-grown players, such as Chery and Geely, have also started to export passenger cars.

"However, there is a long way to go before domestic vehicle manufacturers start to export in high volume, because of their high production costs and small scale," Jia said.

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