SAIC sales rise 12% on strength of local brands

Shanghai-based SAIC Motor Corp, China's largest publicly traded automaker, yesterday reported it sold 4.49 million vehicles last year, a 12 percent increase from 2011.

The figure includes 1.39 million units sold by Shanghai General Motors and 1.28 million units by Shanghai Volkswagen, up 13.1 percent and 9.79 percent respectively from a year earlier.

Deliveries of SAIC's minivan joint venture SAIC-GM-Wuling rose 12.1 percent to 1.46 million units while sales of its self-owned brands Roewe and MG soared 23.5 percent to hit 200,000 units, worth 20 billion yuan (US$3.21 billion).

SAIC said it has established a globalized research and development system for its brands with a team of nearly 3,000 engineers working in Shanghai, Nanjing and Britain. The automaker expects to complete construction of its 4.4 billion yuan technology center in Shanghai this year.

The automaker launched the Roewe E50 in November. It is China's first self-developed and mass-produced electric car.

Next week, Shanghai is expected to grant buyers of the model the city's first free license plates for new-energy vehicles. Normally, a license plate costs about 65,000 yuan at the city's monthly auction.

The city government is offering the free car plates for electric vehicles to encourage eco-friendly driving and reduce pollution.