1 million autos! SAIC drives to new overseas sales milestone
Chinese automaker SAIC Motor Corp Ltd has reached a new milestone in its overseas sales, becoming the first domestic automaker to surpass one million units in annual overseas sales volume.
According to the company's latest data, its overseas sales volume reached 1.017 million units in 2022, a year-on-year growth of 45.9 percent, and ranking as the top Chinese car exporter for seven consecutive years. Of these, 906,000 vehicles were exported while 111,000 were produced and sold from overseas bases.
From January to June 2023, SAIC's overseas sales reached 533,000 units, up 40 percent year on year, continuing its outstanding performance, according to Yu De, SAIC Motor president assistant and managing director of the international business department.
Yu De, SAIC Motor president assistant and managing director of the international business department
SAIC's impressive performance in overseas sales is largely due to its "localization" strategy, which tailors its operations to fit with the diverse regulations, consumer preferences, and market structures of different nations.
The company's global presence in nearly 100 countries and regions has allowed it to build a complete automotive industrial chain covering research and development, marketing, logistics, parts, manufacturing, finance, and second-hand cars.
SAIC noted that its MG brand has also been a key player in the company's success, as the brand became the "China's single-brand car sales champion" for the first time in 2019 with global sales of 300,000 vehicles.
And in 2022, MG's global annual sales volume will exceed 660,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 26 percent, successfully achieving overseas sales growth for four consecutive years and cumulative export sales exceeding 1 million units. It has also entered the top 10 of single-brand sales in nearly 20 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Thailand, and Chile.
From January to June this year, MG's global sales surged 40 percent on year to exceed 370,000 units, and its target for the whole year of 2023 is set at 800,000 units. In 2024, which marks the 100th anniversary of the MG brand, it will make every effort to chase the goal of one million units in annual global sales, the company said.
Specifically, in the European market, MG brand's cumulative sales rocketed 143 percent in the first six months from a year earlier to reach 115,000 vehicles, of which more than 50 percent were new energy vehicles. MG has entered 28 European countries, with more than 830 service points.
In 2023, Europe will become SAIC's first overseas regional market with sales exceeding 200,000 units, as the company expects, and SAIC plans to build a factory there.
In the Australia and New Zealand market, meanwhile, MG's cumulative sales were up 2 percent to exceed 22,000 units in January-May, ranking fifth in the Australian passenger car market with a market share of 6.1 percent.
And the figure was over 30,000 units in the American market with an increase of 13 percent. The cumulative sales in the first five months also posted year-on-year growth of 13 percent and 4 percent, respectively, in the Middle Eastern market and the Southeast (or ASEAN) and South Asian market.
The company revealed that in the next 18 months, the MG brand will launch 10 more global cars, following the success of its first global car MG4, to form a product matrix that covers pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel vehicles in overseas markets.
For 2023, SAIC is striving to create one overseas regional market with sales exceeding 200,000 units (Europe) and five overseas regional markets with sales exceeding 100,000 units (America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, ASEAN, and South Asia), with the total annual overseas sales volume expected to exceed 1.2 million vehicles.
