SAIC Motor built and sold over 5.1 million vehicles in 2013, a year-on-year growth of 13.7%. It is the first Chinese car maker ever achieving annual production and sales of 5 million vehicles. On top of the huge volume, SAIC Motor also strengthened its core competitiveness and global business.
SAIC Motor’s subsidiaries all arrived at excellent performances. Among its joint ventures, Shanghai GM sold 1.575 million vehicles, Shanghai VW 1.525 million and SAIC-GM-Wuling 1.6 million, growing by 13.11%, 19.14%, and 9.76% respectively. Its self-owned brands Roewe and MG sold 230,000 units, up 15% over last year.
Customer Satisfaction
According CACSI, a recently published customer satisfaction research, SAIC Motor’s self-owned passenger car brands topped the list, not only taking the leading roles among domestic brands but also riding side by side with joint venture and luxury brands.
Statistics released by China Quality Association showed that Roewe 350 ranked No. 1 in customer satisfaction in its segment while MG 3 took the second place. Meanwhile, Roewe was granted champion in sales and service satisfaction among all domestic brands, scoring higher even than many joint venture brands.
New Technologies
New technologies were used on a new model of Roewe 550 featuring DCT, Start/Stop and inkanet. At the 2013 Auto Guangzhou this new model, together with Roewe 750 hybrid and Roewe E50 pure electric, displayed the latest development of SAIC Motor’s R&D efforts. The new technologies result in electric power consumption of 12 kWh/100 km and gas consumption of 2.3 liters, which could cut fuel consumption more than 70 percent compared with traditional cars
Global Business
SAIC Motor exported 110,000 vehicles in 2013, a growth of 10%. Its joint venture with Thailand’s CP Group was going on smoothly. SAIC Motor’s self-owned commercial vehicle Maxus was expected to be produced in the Thai facility. It would enter Thailand as CKDs for a while. In the meantime, SAIC Motor’s components businesses have begun their investment in Thai.
In addition, SAIC Motor set up Shanghai Automotive International Business and Trade Company in the newly established Shanghai Free Trade Zone in 2013. The company would first build a 100,000-square km KD centre with the annual handling capability of 500,000 sets. In the long run, it is aimed to become SAIC Motor’s international investment arm.
