SAIC Motor Chairman: Internet tech to boost auto industry

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chen Hong, Chairman of SAIC Motor and a delegate to the 13th the National People's Congress stated in an interview that the fusion of internet technology and the traditional automotive industry will become a major trend in the future. SAIC Motor is exploring a broader and deeper integration of the big data, cloud computing as well as AI into auto industry and will put it into practice to boost the transformation and development of the whole industry. 

“The trend of Internet vehicle building marks that the auto industry is evolving into a crucial phase of innovation which is also a great opportunity for the industry to carry out innovation transformation.” Chen Hong said.

In the interview, he introduced SAIC Motor's achievements in electrification, ICV (intelligent-connected vehicle), mobility sharing and international cooperation. 

Chen stated that SAIC Motor is the only automaker in China who insists on a synchronized development of three new energy vehicle (NEV) technologies, namely pure electric power, plug-in hybrid power and fuel cell. In the past five year, the group's total sales of NEVs jumped 14 times.

As to the ICV, Chen Hong presented that SAIC Motor and Alibaba jointly launched the world's first mass-produced internet vehicles under Roewe brand. As a SAIC Motor's self-owned brand, Roewe delivered over 50,000 units of internet vehicles within 18 months since it hit the market.

In addition, SAIC Motor set up the world's biggest NEV timesharing rental company, Global Car Sharing & Rental Co., Ltd, covering 60 cities in China and processing an order per 2 seconds on average.

Chen said SAIC Motor has built production bases in Thailand, Indonesia and India. Besides, it also set up R&D centers in UK, US as well as Israel.

Additionally, SAIC Motor has already had 50,000-kilometer autonomous vehicle testing experience in closed field. Just a few days ago, the group obtained China's first license for an autonomous vehicle open road test.

According to Chen, SAIC Motor's annual sales last year exceeded 6,930,000 units, accounting for over 23% of total vehicle sales in China. In addition, the group achieved a combined revenue topping RMB 840 billion in 2017, ranking 41th on the Fortune Global 500 List of 2017.