SAIC, Changan expect growth in Jan-Sept net profits

Shanghai, October 19 (Gasgoo.com) SAIC Motor and Changan Auto, two leading Chinese carmakers, have issued strong earnings forecasts for the January-September period, citing robust sales amid a fast-recovering Chinese economy, Dow Jones reported last week.

SAIC, China's largest carmaker by sales volume, said it expects its Jan-Sept net profit rose more than 70% from 2.23 billion yuan ($326.6 million) a year earlier. Its sales in the first nine months rose 47% year on year to more than 1.94 million vehicles.

Chongqing Changan, China's fourth-largest automaker, said it expects its net profit for the Jan-Sept period rose 133%-150% to 800 million-860 million yuan, up from 343.55 million of a year earlier. Its sales in the nine-month period rose 51.19% to 1 million vehicles.

The two carmakers' solid performance, likely shared by their peers, is in tune with the overall Chinese auto industry's strong growth this year.

China's monthly passenger-car sales passed 1 million units for the first time in September. For the first nine months, passenger-car sales rose 42% to 7.2 million units, while industry-wide vehicle sales rose 34% to 9.7 million.