(Yicai Global) Dec. 19 -- Chinese carmaker Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co. [SHA:600418], better known as JAC Motors, will build its first Brazilian factory in the central state of Goias as the country's auto sales look set to smash earlier forecasts.

JAC hopes to have the factory up and running within two years, it said in a statement yesterday. It will invest BRL200 million (USD61 million) to build the plant, which will generate 820 local jobs, and plans to make 35,000 vehicles per year there.

Car sales in Brazil are pegged to beat earlier forecasts for this year, Reuters quoted national automakers association Anfavea as saying earlier this month. Car and truck sales are likely to grow 9 percent this year, said Antonia Megale, Anfavea president, compared with a 7.3 percent forecast. Megale believes the market could grow by double digits next year.

"The firm is dedicated to developing Brazilian markets," Sergio Habib, president of the automaker's Brazil unit, told the state's governor, Marconi Perillo. "With the support of the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, we can finally set up factories in the country," he added.

"We expect sales to increase by 40 percent this year," Habib continued. "Our goal is to double this year's sales in 2018."