Shanghai (ZXZC)- Nissan Motor said its 2019 sales target in China remains at 1.6 million units, the same as the 2018 goal, said Makoto Uchida, senior vice president of Nissan and president of Dongfeng Motor Company Limited.

Nissan's 2018 sales in China grew 2.9% over a year ago to 1,563,986 units, making it the champion among all Japanese automakers in terms of full-year China sales.

Both PV unit and light CV units achieved positive sales growth last year. The PV unit sold 1,301,077 vehicles throughout 2018 with a YoY increase of 2.8%. Specifically, Dongfeng Nissan (including Nissan-branded imported models)'s annual sales recorded a new high of 1,166,696 units, a YoY growth of 3.9%. However, Dongfeng Venucia's 2018 sales declined 6.0% to 134,381 units.

Meanwhile, the light CV business sector, including Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. and Zhengzhou Nissan, saw its yearly sales rose 5.4% to 216,969 units.

Although this is the sixth year in a row for Nissan that achieved year-on-year growth, the automaker is obviously experiencing sales slowdown, which led to the setting of a relatively conservative sales target for 2019.

Nissan is speeding up the business deployment in China as it has realized the significance of the world's largest auto market. The company said it is going to introduce 3 electrified models to China in 2019, aiming to double its EV sales in this country. Besides, Nissan's ProPILOT assist technology will be installed in the seventh-generation Altima this year.