SAIC Motor sees 2009 profit jumping over 900 pct

Top Chinese auto maker SAIC Motor Corp forecast on Wednesday that its 2009 net profit would jump more than 900 percent from 2008, propelled by a 57-percent year-on-year rise in vehicle sales.

Net profit for 2008 stood at 656 million yuan ($96 million), it said in a statement published in the official Shanghai Securities News.

The company sold 2.72 million vehicles in 2009, up 57.18 percent from 2008, it said.

SAIC, Chinese partner of global giants including General Motors [GM.UL] and Volkswagen AG, is scheduled to publish its 2009 earnings report on April 2, according to data issued by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

China's auto market, which surpassed the United States as the world's largest earlier this year, has been a major bright spot amid a global industry downturn aided by a raft of policy incentives which bolstered consumer confidence.

In a move to counter the impact of the global financial crisis China adopted stimulus schemes late last year that included giving consumers discounts if they traded in old cars for new ones.

In the first 11 months, a total of 9.23 million passenger cars were sold in the country, up 49.70 percent from a year earlier, official data showed. Full 2009 data will be published as early as this week.