Going for broke

摘要

There is no mistaking the "ambition of the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) - it wants to be one of the world's top six carmakers by 2020. This means that it is targeting sales of around four million vehicles to achieve it. Last year, it sold 848, 542 units, a 7.8 per cent increase on 2003. Its rise has been fuelled by a boom in car sales in its home market where it has expanded from tractor making to become a diversified automotive group. Completely owned by the City of Shanghai, SAIC nevertheless has a large international network that includes joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen while earlier this year it bought Korea's Ssang-Yong Motors. It has also been closely linked with MG Rover, at first as a potential partner but following the British car company's demise, as the owner of various licences and technologies that include the design rights to the Rover 25 and 75 as well as the K series engine.