Shanghai Automotive signals cooperation with rival

        SHANGHAI Automotive Industry Corp today offered an olive branch to its domestic rival, Nanjing Automobile Group, for a joint development of the nation's self-branded models, according to SAIC chairman Hu Maoyuan.
       
        "The SAIC and Nanjing Auto have adopted basically same methods to develop their own bands, such as making full use of international resources and learning from foreign giants," Hu was quoted by Sohu.com as saying today at a press conference held on the eve of the 12th International Automobile & Manufacturing Technology Exhibition.
       
        Nanjing Auto, which beat SAIC to get the production facilities and MG brand from the bankrupted British car maker in 2005, said earlier it planned to sell up to 50 percent stake of its Nanjing MG Motor to Chinese or foreign investors to fund the aggressive revival plan of the MG models around the world.
       
        The two companies are reported to be involved in an intellectual property rights dispute about the IPR of the Nanjing Auto's MG 7 series and SAIC's Roewe 750. Both the Roewe 750 and the MG 7 are derived from the original Rover 75 model.
       
        Hu said competition is an inborn feature of market economy and will encourage the company's development when asked for his comment on recent media reports about the two companies' clash over intellectual property rights.
       
        Nanjing Auto outbid SAIC in 2005 to acquire MG Rover Group and its engine producer for 53 million pounds sterling (US$103 million).
       
        SAIC, China's biggest car maker, bought the technology for two Rover models - the 25 and the 75 - and their engines for 67 million pounds in 2004.