ArvinMeritor eyes $1 bln Asia sales rise in 3-5 yrs

SHANGHAI, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. car and truck parts maker ArvinMeritor Inc (ARM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) aims to add $1 billion in sales in Asia Pacific in the next three to five years, banking in part on robust demand in China, its regional president said on Thursday.

ArvinMeritor has seen 25 to 30 percent annual sales growth in the region in the past three years, Rakesh Sachdev told Reuters in an interview.

Sales in the region are estimated to rise to roughly $750 million in the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2008, up 32 percent from $570 million a year earlier, he said.

"When we put the plan together for 2008, we were expecting to grow another 25 percent, but we are doing better than that," said Sachdev.

"If we continue at this rate we will get to the $1 billion that we have targeted."

To help get there, ArvinMeritor plans to add four manufacturing plants in Asia this year, with two located in China, which already generates half of its regional sales, he added. (Reporting by Fang Yan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)