ZHEJIANG, China, June 26 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SORL Auto Parts, Inc. (Nasdaq: SORL), a leading manufacturer and distributor of commercial vehicle air brake valves and other auto parts in China, announced that its Chief Executive Office Mr. Zhang Xiaoping participated in the 2008 TATA Motors Ltd. ("TATA") China Vendor Meeting in Shanghai, China on June 16, 2008.
This is the first vendor meeting TATA has held in China. Only TATA's six key Chinese suppliers were invited, all of which are leading Chinese auto parts manufacturers in various product areas. At the meeting, Mr. Zhang had extensive discussions with TATA's Executive Director Prakash M. Telang and the Chief of Strategic Sourcing B. B. Parekh. The two sides exchanged views on a variety of topics including further expanding the scope of products provided by SORL, pricing practices, and other ways in which the two companies could work together strategically.
SORL and TATA signed their first sales agreement in early 2007. Subsequent to that agreement, SORL established a sales center in Pune, India and designated a team to further develop the relationship with TATA including analyzing TATA's needs, coordinating new product development, ensuring quality and on-time delivery, and working closely with TATA in general. The result has been high customer satisfaction, increasing orders, and a general strengthening of the relationship with TATA.
"Our relationship with TATA is an important step in our effort to develop more international OEM business," commented SORL's CEO Zhang Xiaoping. "As an emerging economy, India is rapidly expanding its infrastructure, which means high growth potential for the commercial vehicle market. As China's leading air brake valve manufacturer, SORL has the ability to use our cost and quality advantages to develop such high-growth emerging markets. We are confident that our successful cooperation with TATA will continue to develop rapidly and will serve as a model for our ongoing efforts to establish business relations with more international OEMs. At the same time, we are also actively exploring different types of strategic cooperation that will help us achieve our strategic goal of expanding the global reach of SORL."
About SORL Auto Parts, Inc.
As China's leading manufacturer and distributor of automotive air brake valves, SORL Auto Parts, Inc. ranks first in market share in the segment for commercial vehicles weighing more than three tons, such as trucks and buses. The Company distributes products both within China and internationally under the SORL trademark. SORL ranks among the top 100 auto component suppliers in China, with a product range that includes 40 types of air brake valves and over 1000 different specifications. The Company has four authorized international sales centers in Australia, United Arab Emirates, India, and the United States, with additional offices slated to open in other locations in the near future. For more information, please visit http://www.sorl.cn .
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release may include certain statements that are not descriptions of historical facts, but are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will", "believes", "expects" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements may also include statements about our proposed discussions related to our business or growth strategy, which is subject to change. Such information is based upon expectations of our management that were reasonable when made but may prove to be incorrect. All of such assumptions are inherently subject to uncertainties and contingencies beyond our control and upon assumptions with respect to future business decisions, which are subject to change. We do not undertake to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. For a description of the risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, see our most recent Annual Report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Form 10-K, and our subsequent SEC filings. Copies of filings made with the SEC are available through the SEC's electronic data gathering analysis retrieval system (EDGAR) at http://www.sec.gov .
For more information please contact:
Richard Cai
Director of Investor Relations
SORL Auto Parts, Inc.
Tel: +86-577-6581-7720
Email: richardcai@sorl.com.cn
Dan Joseph
ICR, Inc.
Tel: +86-21-6122-1077
Email: dan.joseph@icrinc.com
Bill Zima
ICR, Inc.
Tel: +1-203-682-8200
Email: william.zima@icrinc.com
