SAIC Motor, China's largest automaker, sold 484,000 vehicles in June, growing by 33 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis, and up 47.2 percent year-on-year, demonstrating that the automobile manufacturer has regained positive growth and accelerated its recovery from the COVID-19 impact, according to official data released by the company on July 7.

Official statistics indicate that in the first half of the year, SAIC Motor achieved a cumulative sales volume of 2.23 million vehicles, close to that of the same period last year. It also outperformed competitors in the market, maintaining a leading position in China’s automobile industry.

Sales of self-owned brand cars, new energy vehicles (NEVs), and exports all maintained rapid growth in June, which have enabled SAIC Motor to achieve new growth, according to statistics.

Self-owned brands

SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Company, one of its subsidiary corporations, sold 83,000 units in June, a year-on-year growth of 75.8 percent. The total sales of NEVs increased by 86.2 percent year-on-year to 91,000 NEVs during the same period, and 84,000 vehicles were sold in its overseas markets, growing by 59.4 percent year-on-year. SAIC Motor said it will continue cooperating with upstream and downstream partners in the industrial chain to speed up its production and sales in the second half of the year.

From January to June, the carmaker’s self-owned brands witnessed rapid growth. According to official data, SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Company sold more than 366,000 units, up 22.2 percent year-on-year, and its self-owned brands accounted for more than 50 percent of the group's total sales.

Deliveries of the IM L7, which was created by IM, a joint venture between SAIC Motor, Alibaba, and ZJ INNOPARK to develop electric vehicles, started in June. Orders are expanding quickly, indicating a greater sales performance. SAIC Motor's R brand launched the SUV R7, and made its debut at an auto show. Orders for the new third generation Roewe RX5 and the super hybrid eRX5 exceeded 20,000 within 10 days, and the monthly sales of Roewe’s i5, MG ZS, and MG5 exceeded 10,000. SAIC Maxus launched its first full-size electric multipurpose vehicle, the MIFA 9, on June 29.

NEVs

SAIC Motor’s NEV sector maintained an upward trend during the first half of this year, with 393,000 units being sold during the period, a year-on-year increase of 32.9 percent.

The carmaker sold 91,000 NEVs in June, up 86.2 percent year-on-year. In June, SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Company sold nearly 20,000 NEVs, increasing by 80.4 percent year-on-year. The NEV sales of SAIC Volkswagen, a Sino-German joint venture, surpassed 13,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 337.9 percent, with its monthly sales volume reaching the 10,000-unit mark for the first time, and hit a record high in a single month. 

SAIC-GM launched Cadillac Lyriq SUV for Chinese customers in 2021, which is the first model based on GM's EV platform Ultium. The platform is implemented in China's first Ultium Center, which was established in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, to assemble battery packs for GM's growing number of NEVs in the domestic market. Orders of Cadillac Lyriq SUVs have exceeded 10,000 units, attracting overwhelming demand. SAIC GM-Wuling announced that it will launch the world's first mass-produced NEV models, which will be equipped with advanced driver assistance functions developed by Chinese drone maker DJI.

With continuous expansion of market demand for NEVs, joint ventures of SAIC Motor have experienced huge business growth. According to official data, SAIC Volkswagen sold 126,000 units in June, up 93.9 percent year-on-year, and vehicle sales of SAIC-GM climbed to 125,000, a year-on-year increase of 47.3 percent. SAIC GM-Wuling saw its car sales reach around 120,000 units last month, climbing 29 percent year-on-year.

Overseas market

SAIC Motor reported strong vehicle sales in its overseas markets. In June, the carmaker sold a total of 84,000 units, an increase of 59.4 percent compared with the same period last year, while the sales volume of its self-branded vehicles reached 12,000, maintaining a leading position among domestic carmakers.

The carmaker unveiled its first electric model, MG4 Electric in June, which is built on SAIC Motor's new MSP platform designed solely for all-electric cars and sports the carmaker's One Pack battery with an energy density that can reach 180 Wh/kg. MG4 features a "zero thermal runway" system to prevent it from catching fire or thermal runaway incidents. MG said the model is developed in accordance with the European New Car Assessment Program, one of the strictest of its kind in the world. MG4 Electric will help MG explore the overseas market by striving to represent Chinese high-end technology, and is expected to help SAIC Motor explore overseas markets.

Currently, monthly sales volume of the carmaker’s self-owned brands have exceeded 10,000 units, and MG4 is expected to help SAIC Motor achieve its milestone goal of selling more than 100,000 vehicles in the European market this year. SAIC Motor sold 381,000 vehicles overseas in the first half of this year, up 47.7 percent from the same period last year, according to official statistics. One of the company’s goals is to sell 800,000 vehicles overseas this year.