Gasgoo.com (Shanghai March 22) - Earlier this week, Jianghuai Automobile held an official Brazilian market debut ceremony for its J5 car in Bahia's state capital of Salvador, hf365.com reported today. The J5 is the overseas name for the Heyue car, one of JAC's best selling models.

JAC, alongside other Chinese manufacturers, have received a warm reception from Brazil and the Latin American market as a whole. The idea of samba dancers owning Anhui-made vehicles is something that was unimaginable in the past. According to an official statement, the manufacturer released its Tongyue and Tongyue RS cars, renamed J3 and J3 Turin, respectively, in the Brazilian market last March, and is planning to release the Heyue RS, renamed J6, in August. The Tongyues reportedly managed combined sales of 37,725 units.

Statistics show that JAC exported a total of 66,300 vehicles last year, over 207 percent higher than similar figures from 2010. The manufacturer is the leading Chinese pickup truck and passenger automobile exporter.

According to statistics from the China Automobile Dealers Association, Beijing sales of vehicles from several different domestic manufacturers, including JAC, Chery, Geely, BYD, Great Wall, Lifan, Changan and Roewe, all experienced notable negative growth of 6.7 percent in the first half of 2011. With costs to owning a personal vehicle increasing in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, several manufacturers have set their sights overseas.

JAC announced last year its plans to invest $600 million to construct a new factory in Brazil.