New shipping route helps SAIC Motor expand global market

A "ro-ro" (roll-on/roll-off) ship named SAIC Anji Phoenix carrying about 1,000 MG-branded vehicles made its maiden voyage on March 15 from Fujian's Ningde Port to Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico, marking the official launch of SAIC Motor's self-operated shipping route linking Ningde and Mexico.

In order to meet the growing demand from local customers, the first 1,000 MG-branded vehicles produced at the Ningde factory were transported to Mexico at a faster speed. The Ningde factory, which won the title of "China Benchmark Smart Factory", is SAIC Motor's key base for production and export of new energy vehicles (NEVs). To date, more than 500,000 NEVs have rolled off the production line at the manufacturing base in Ningde.

With the opening of the Ningde-Mexico shipping route, SAIC Motor's Ningde base has become China's first vehicle production base with multiple logistics modes including warehousing, as well as highway, railway and waterway transportation, which will boost the export business of SAIC Motor.

In 2007, MG's new models made their debut in Chile, South America, indicating the start of the brand's global marketing strategy. According to official figures, the annual global sales of MG exceeded 10,000 units in 2009, 50,000 units in 2011, and 150,000 units in 2017. In 2019, its global sales reached 300,000 units, making it the most popular Chinese brand in overseas markets.

The total sales of MG-branded vehicles exceeded 660,000 last year, a year-on-year growth of 26 percent, and MG ranked among the top 10 brands in nearly 20 countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Thailand, as well as Chile.

MG4 Electric, the first model on SAIC Motor's dedicated electric MSP platform, went on sale in China and Europe in September 2022. The new vehicle model is now available in nearly 30 countries in Europe, with its monthly orders exceeding 10,000 units. This year, MG aims to sell 800,000 vehicles overseas, and will strive to achieve sell one million vehicles globally in 2024, the centenary of the establishment of the MG brand.

MG brand, which entered the Mexico market two years ago, sold more than 48,000 vehicles there last year, up 201 percent year-on-year, and climbing to the 7th place in the passenger car market in Mexico.

In 2022, SAIC Motor sold more than one million vehicles overseas, ranking first among domestic automakers for seven consecutive years and becoming the first Chinese carmaker to sell more than one million units overseas in a year. It is said that SAIC Motor makes one out of every three Chinese cars sold overseas. In the first two months of this year, the carmaker sold 160,000 vehicles overseas, up 31.9 percent year-on-year, and has maintained strong growth momentum.

SAIC Motor has explored its own path to expand overseas market. It has built a whole value chain of the automobile industry overseas, including R&D centers, manufacturing bases, regional sales and aftersales centers, supply chain centers as well as finance companies. Its services and products are now available in more than 90 countries and regions around the world. Currently, the company has developed six large-scale regional markets in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Americas, the Middle East, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as South Asia, with the European market being SAIC Motor's first overseas market with annual sales exceeding 100,000 units.

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