China's biggest carmaker, SAIC Motor, sold 307, 000 cars in January, topping the list of auto sales in the country, the group's latest figures show.

The carmaker reported 76, 600 vehicles in overseas markets, up 17. 1 percent from the same time last year as its New Energy smart-car proved popular in both domestic and overseas markets.

The pre-sales of the LS7, the first mid-and-large-sized SUV to be built by IM Motors, a joint venture of SAIC Motor, Alibaba and Zhangjiang High-tech, began in December last year and the new vehicle has been well-received by consumers. The F7 model, which was developed by SAIC Motor's own Rising Auto, has exceeded 10, 000 pre-orders in a single day. In January, nearly 5, 000 MG4 Electrics, the first production model developed on SAIC Motor's dedicated electric MSP platform, were delivered to Europe.

The Chinese automobile industry is expected to achieve a recovery of over 4 percent in the year, with optimization COVID-19 containment measures, chip supply shortages to be less severe, and the combined impact of existing and new policy support for vehicle business. With the launch of its high-end New Energy Intelligent Vehicles like IM LS7, and Rising F7, from this month, SAIC Motor is fully dependent on its strong industrial chain advantages and competitive innovation system to drive the company's development of new high-end high-performance smart vehicles in overseas markets.

SAIC Motor's ambition is to sell 6 million vehicles across the world this year, 1. 5 million of which will be new-energy vehicles and 1. 2 million more will be sold overseas.