The 2019 Fortune Global 500 Companies list was announced on July 22. Chinese auto maker SAIC Motor took the 39th spot on the list with consolidated sales revenue of over $136.39 billion in 2018. In addition, SAIC Motor ranked 7th among all auto companies on the list and ranked 10th among all Chinese companies.
In 2018, SAIC Motor achieved robust sales against the slowdown in the domestic auto industry. Company’s annual sales of vehicles reached 7.052 million units, a rise of 1.8 percent year-on-year, which led to an increase of one percentage point year-on-year in its domestic market share to 24.1 percent. It further expanded its lead in the domestic market.
Although the Chinese auto market is continuing to decline, SAIC Motor is striving to consolidate its market share while paying close attention to the changing trends in the global auto industry, striving to accelerate the promotion of “electrification, intelligent connectivity, sharing and globalization."
According to statistics, from January to June, SAIC Motor's new energy vehicle sales reached 82,000 units, up 42 percent year-on-year. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles ran over 2.1 million kilometers. Other breakthroughs included the launch of the world's first 5G-enabled screenless smart cockpit, co-development of China's first 5G-enabled smart transportation demonstration zone with Huawei and China Mobile, and the mass production of the world's first 5G-enabled internet car which is about to go on sale. In addition, Xiangdao Chuxing, a ride-hailing brand developed by SAIC Motor, has gained popularity and has received more than 50,000 orders in a single day. Meanwhile, the overseas sales of SAIC automobiles reached 145,000 units in the first half of 2019. MG Motor, a British carmaker now owned by SAIC, has made India's first internet car -- MG Hector, which has successfully entered the Indian market. SAIC Motor also agreed to establish a joint venture manufacturing company with Mansour Automotive Group in Egypt as part of its efforts to enter the African market.
New energy auto sales in H1
With strong independent research and development strength, SAIC Motor's new energy vehicle sales reached 82,000 units in the first six months of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 42 percent. As the only auto company in China that develops electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles, SAIC Motor leads the nation in terms of core technology related to batteries, electric drives and electric controls. Currently, a new round of innovation in technology related to electric drive gearboxes, electric shafts, inverters and battery management systems is getting into full swing. The goal is to create an internationally-leading structure for electric vehicles.
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles without emissions are the ultimate goal of for developing new energy vehicles. SAIC Motor's newly developed third-generation fuel cell system has galvanic pile power of 115 kW, volume power density of 3.1 kW/L, and allows for a low-temperature start at -30℃. These key indicators have achieved international first-class standards. SAIC Motor also took the lead in China in terms of commercialized hydrogen fuel cell passenger cars and commercial vehicles. SAIC Maxus FCV80 fuel cell wide body light passenger car, Roewe 950 fuel cell sedan and Sunwin fuel cell bus have an accumulated mileage of more than 2.1 million kilometers.
5G-enabled intelligent connected car
As the earliest auto company in China to develop intelligent connected technology, SAIC Motor has continuously strengthened the independent development of key systems in driverless technology, and further promoted cooperation with Alibaba, Wuhan KOTEI Informatics Co Ltd, Mobileye, TTTech and other well-known domestic and international companies. Strategic cooperation agreements were signed with the Traffic Management Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security, China Mobile, and Huawei to jointly carry out research on forward-looking intelligent connected technologies such as 5G and standard system construction.
In April, SAIC Motor released the world's first 5G-enabled screenless smart cockpit and unveiled China's first 5G-enabled smart transportation demonstration zone. It announced that the world's first 5G-enabled car would realize mass production and hit the market in 2020.
The Roewe Marvel X pure electric SUV manufactured by SAIC Motor is proof of the enterprise's ability to collaboratively develop electric vehicles, system of internet vehicles, intelligent electronic control units (i-ECU), and high-precision electronic maps. SAIC Motor is also among the first to realize mass production of cars with autonomous parking and self-driving functions. To date, the total test mileage of intelligent car prototypes independently developed by SAIC Motor is near 120,000 kilometers, and the test mileage on open roads has exceeded 10,000 kilometers.
Car-hailing platform and service ecosphere
In 2019, SAIC Motor maintained focus on intelligent transportation, convenient mobility services, and efficient logistics, actively using artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing technologies. Full play has been given to the synergy-resource advantage in the industrial chain in order to serve the construction of a large-scale car-hailing platform and service ecosphere.
Xiangdao Chuxing now enjoys more than 2.3 million subscribers who have placed a total of more than 5.5 million orders with user satisfaction up to 96 percent. Maximum daily orders have topped 50,000. A car rental service is also available for enterprise clients. SAIC Motor's time-sharing service of new energy vehicles is offered in 64 cities across the country with a fleet size of 45,000 vehicles. The number of subscribers has soon grown to more than 4 million.
Chexiang, a Chinese online-to-offline automotive trading platform invested by SAIC Motor, achieved an annual online trade volume of 72,000 vehicles and earned 8 billion yuan ($1.16 billion) in annual transaction value -- well ahead of its competitors. Chexiang is also increasingly recognized for its personalized service and other characteristic business offerings. It has established a joint operation mechanism with Automall.qq.com. More than 2,500 Chexiangjia outlets are currently operating in 130 cities and have successfully built a "three-kilometer community service ecosystem".
SAIC Anji Logistics Co Ltd, the world's largest vehicle logistics company, wholly-owned subsidiary by SAIC Motor, is working to promote innovative business models such as multimodal transport and intelligent warehouses.
At the same time, SAIC Motor used the acquisition of Hoau Logistic Co Ltd as a stepping stone to enter the non-automobile logistics field and is accelerating the development of an urban express logistics platform.
Creating a name card of Chinese car
In 2018, SAIC exported and sold 277,000 vehicles in the overseas market, an increase of 62.5 percent over the same period in the previous year and ranking first in the country for three consecutive years. Its vehicles accounted for 23 percent of the total overseas sales of Chinese cars. From January to June, a record 145,000 of the company’s vehicles were exported and sold overseas.
With the initial success of SAIC Motor's “overseas internet car business model” in the Thai market, the company wants to achieve similar success in India. The first product of MG India, equipped with SAIC Motor's iSMART system, was officially launched at the end of June. The first internet car in the Indian market has so far received more than 10,000 orders. In addition, SAIC Motor has also signed to establish a joint venture manufacturing company with Mansour Automotive Group in Egypt as an attempt to enter the African market.
SAIC has set up innovative R&D centers in London, Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv, built vehicle manufacturing bases in Thailand, Indonesia, and India, created 93 overseas supplier bases, and established 12 regional marketing & service centers. A subsidiary operating diversified financial services has been established in Indonesia. Vehicles have entered more than 60 countries on five continents, while company's sales have exceeded 10,000 units in six overseas regions - Thailand, the UK, Indonesia, Chile, Australia and New Zealand, and the Middle East. SAIC Motor will strive to make ASEAN its first overseas market with a sales volume of 100,000 units.
Looking ahead, SAIC Motor will continue to promote innovation and explore deeper integration of the auto industry and emerging technologies such as new energy development, artificial intelligence and 5G communications, so as to master more core technologies and become more competitive, strengthen the company’s overall capacity and make strides in building itself into a world-renowned auto company that boasts a global business layout, multinational operations, international competitiveness, and brand influence.
