SAIC Motor expects to sell 3 mln vehicles this year

Shanghai, May 26 (Gasgoo.com) SAIC Motor, Chinese partner of General Motor and Volkswagen AG, expects its sales in the first half of this year to increase to more than 1.65 million vehicles from 1.23 million a year earlier and forecasts 2010 sales of 3 million units, media reported.

China's vehicle sales may contract in the fourth quarter, with full-year volume of 15.5 million units, president Chen Hong said at the company's annual shareholders' meeting in Shanghai yesterday.

"It's hard to foresee significant growth in the fourth quarter," said an IHS Global Insight analyst. "Growth in the second half will be poorer than in the first as car sales reached peak volume in third and fourth quarters last 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.

China's car-sales growth in April slowed considerably amid rising consumer and property prices. Sales of cars, SUVs and MPVs increased 33% to 1.11 million from a year earlier, compared with a 63% jump in March, according to the industry data.

SAIC aims to capture 20% of China's alternative-energy vehicle market by 2015, Chairman Hu Maoyuan said yesterday. The Chinese government will unveil the details of stimulus plans for the new-energy car industry later this month.