SAIC Motor expects H1 sales to top 1.6 mln vehicles

Shanghai, May 25 (Gasgoo.com) China's biggest automaker SAIC Motor expects to sell more than 1.6 million vehicles in the first half of the year, company president Chen Hong said today, media reported.

The company will achieve a sales target of 3 million units this year, Chen said in Shanghai, adding that China's industrywide vehicle sales may see negative growth in the fourth quarter and sales may increase to 15.5 million units this year.

China's government incentives continue to bolster automobile demand in the world's largest auto market. SAIC, which runs vehicle manufacturing ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen, expects to sell more than 1.6 million vehicles in the first half of this year.

In the first four months of the year, SAIC and all its ventures sold 1,197,453 vehicles, up 54.8% from a year earlier. In April, the auto giant's auto sales grew 33.7% to 305,634 units. In 2009, its vehicle sales rose 57% to 2.72 million units.

SAIC would start making MG 6 sedans at its plant in Britain by the end of the year and begin selling the car in the first quarter next year, Chen told a shareholders' meeting.