SAIC Motor sees sales strong, but growth slowing

SAIC Motor Corp, China's biggest automaker, expects to sell more than 1.6 million automobiles in the first half of the year, its president Chen Hong said on Tuesday, helped by policy incentives.

SAIC sold 1.23 million vehicles in the first six months of last year, meaning that if sales came in at 1.6 million in the first half of this year, they would be 30 percent greater than a year ago.

While strong, such growth would be significantly slower than the pace SAIC has marked over the past several months, as government tax incentives have helped it and other automakers weather the impact of the global economic downturn.

In the first four months of the year, SAIC and all its ventures sold 1,197,453 units, up 55 percent from a year earlier, data from the company showed earlier this month.

"This year, as we expected, China's auto sales growth will be strong at the beginning but slow down gradually. In the fourth quarter there will probably be negative growth. But overall, auto sales in 2010 will definitely see double-digit growth," he said.

Chen said he was confident that SAIC would achieve its target of selling 3 million vehicles this year.