China Trade Information

SAIC Motor Corp yesterday opened a 150,000-unit production facility in Shanghai as part of an effort to lead China’s self-branded vehicle market.

The 1.2 million-square-meter factory is located in Lingang Industrial Zone, 75 kilometers south of downtown Shanghai, and cost 2.9 billion yuan (US$424.2 million), said Chen Zhixin, executive vice president of SAIC Motor. The first phase will cover around 670,000 square meters.

It will be the nation’s largest auto maker’s third passenger car plant, enabling SAIC to have a total capacity of 300,000 self-branded cars a year in full operation.

“We are committed to be the leader in China’s self-branded car market and form our own competitiveness for sustained growth,” said Chen.

SAIC has another two plants in Yizheng and Nanjing in Jiangsu Province after it took over the smaller domestic rival Nanjing Auto at the end of last year.

Besides the production expansion, the Chinese partner of General Motors Corp and Volkswagen AG, has also set up three engineering centers in China and overseas.

The Shanghai plant was unveiled yesterday with a Roewe 550 rolling off the assembly line. The vehicle is SAIC’s second self-owned model, following the Roewe 750 mid-to-high class sedan introduced in early 2007.

Chen said the Lingang plant was designed to make six models on two platforms. A new mid-class sedan would be launched by the end of next year.

The car maker was also developing a compact car in the Nanjing hub in addition to a new engine with smaller replacement, he said.

SAIC is one of a raft of domestic car makers aggressively taking initiatives to develop Chinese-owned vehicles in moves to be more independent from their overseas partners and enhance global competitiveness.

SAIC said it aimed to produce 600,000 units of self-designed cars by 2010, including 200,000 units of self-designed passenger cars and 400,000 units of commercial cars with self-developed technology.

Self-designed cars are expected to account for 30 percent of SAIC’s total sales of 2 million cars by 2010.

Tags: Auto, car-maker, engine, General-Motors, SAIC

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