SAIC, Dongfeng and BYD on 'Top 1000 Companies R&D Investment List'

Three Chinese automakers including Dongfeng Motor Corporation, SAIC Motor and BYD were listed on the chart of Top 1,000 Global Companies by R&D Investment in 2009, ranked 19th, 21st and 23rd respectively, according to the annual report from UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

SAIC, Dongfeng and BYD invested 1.34 yuan ($201 million), 1.96 yuan ($294 million) and 1.04 billion yuan ($156 million) on research and development last year, totaling 4.34 billion yuan ($651 million) that is 15 percent of Toyota's R&D investment of 62.3 billion yuan ($9.36 billion).

According to the report, 26 automakers and 42 vehicle parts makers were listed on the top 1,000, indicating that the innovation focus of the auto industry is on car parts.

Toyota topped the list, followed by Volkswagen and GM with investments of 53.4 billion yuan ($8.02 billion) and 39 billion yuan ($5.86 billion) respectively, in terms of vehicle development investment.

As a result of the global financial crisis, 15 out of 26 automakers experienced a negative R&D increase last year, such as Ford and Renault S.A., dropping 33 percent and 26 percent.
 
SSANG YONG Motor Company topped the list of growth rate of R&D spending, increasing 52 percent to 1.3 billion yuan ($195 million), followed by Dongfeng's of 44 percent.

Porsche's R&D spending was 11.3 percent of its sales in 2009, topping the list of the R&D spending and sales ratio.

Among three Chinese automakers, BYD spent most on research and development, 2.9 percent of sales, followed by Dongfeng Motor.

Chinese companies' progress of developing self-owned cars has drawn foreign companies' attention and some auto giants say they will cooperate with China in car research and development.