China’s SAIC Motor Corporation to leverage technology prowess to make cars in India

SAIC PLANTS AND R&D CENTRES

Motown India correspondent was among those invited to visit the Lingang plant of SAIC in the Pudong district of Shanghai. This plant with its modern manufacturing processes has dedicated areas for press shops, paint shops, tool shop, assembly lines, etc. A large number of robots aid in the production of vehicles both of Roewe brand and the MG brand.

MG vehicles are produced in four major manufacturing bases across China: Lingang, Nanjing, Henan and Fujian. MG and Roewe are both interchangeable brands of SAIC Motor Corporation.  Post the success of Roewe in mainstream Chinese automotive market, SAIC aims to share its technologies with the MG brand.  At the Lingang plant, both Roewe and MG vehicles are produced.

MG vehicles are also produced in Thailand, where the company recently inaugurated its second factory in Rayong, apart from Halol, India, where it will start production in Q2 2019. MG cars are sold in UK, China, Thailand, Philippines, Australia, Middle East and will soon be sold in India.

SAIC Motor Corporation has established technical centres in Longbridge and London in the UK, besides Anting and Nanjing in China, with a global independent R&D team of more than 6,400 engineers to catch up with the global trends in new technology. Motown India also visited the design centre in Anting which is home to world class talent and churns out innovative vehicle designs that have been admired and appreciated across the globe.

The construction of SAIC R&D centre in Anting started in 2005 under an investment of four billion yuan, covering 419,000 square meters and 242,000 square meters of gross area. The SAIC R&D lab in Anting has a variety of facilities including design building, thermal energy emission lab, architecture lab, NVH, thermal wind tunnel lab, powertrain lab, new energy lab, chassis lab, safety lab, electronic & electrical lab, pilot build workshop, etc.

The facility’s 3rd phase construction has introduced several new laboratories like aerodynamic wind tunnel, vehicle EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility), intelligent driving etc.

The global annual sales volume of MG in 2017 exceeded 160,000 units, representing growth of 36 per cent over 2016 (118,000 units). In China alone, MG sold 180,000 cars from January to September this year, growing 89% compared with the previous year.

Founded in the UK 1924, Morris Garages (MG) vehicles were known for its sports cars, roadsters and cabriolet series and were loved by even the British Royal Family and Celebrities. MG has evolved into a modern, futuristic and innovative brand over the last 94 years and its product portfolio is synchronised with the global automotive technology development.

Through the past decade, MG has developed world -class new technology and independent innovative research capability, especially in  traditional powertrain, new energy vehicle, internet and intelligent driving technology. 

In April 2018, the Roewe Marvel X (electric SUV) made its first appearance in Beijing. Since the Banma internet car system was co-developed with Alibaba in 2014 and Roewe ERX5 was born, a variety of internet vehicles have been launched one after another such as Roewe i6, Roewe RX3 etc. Roewe Marvel X leads SAIC’s SUV Innovation and is hailed as the world’s first mass -produced intelligent vehicle. Banma was founded by Alibaba and SAIC Motor.