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China Knowledge reported that SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, China’s number one car maker and owner of the MG Motors brand, saw its net profit for the third quarter of this year increase 27%YoY from CNY 3.71 billion to CNY 4.72 billion.

In a statement, the Shanghai-listed firm said its revenue reached CNY 97.41 billion up by 19.4%YoY from CNY 81.61 billion. Earnings per share were CNY 0.51. In the first three quarters of 2011, the vehicle maker reaped CNY 13.29 billion in net profit reflecting increase of 38.69%YoY and its revenue grew 22.71%YoY to CNY 281.28 billion.

Total vehicle sales for the nine-month period increased 11.77%YoY to 2.98 million units including 722,000 units sold in the third quarter of 2011 up by 6.1%QoQ.

Of the total sales, 65,000 units were SAIC Motor self-branded models, which comprise the MG and the Roewe reflecting a YoY jump of 186%.

The first Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) MG 350 family sedans will arrive in Israel in early 2012. These cars are expected to significantly change the Israeli automotive market in terms of the unprecedented dimensions/accessories/price ratio.

The new car, which is produced partly in Europe and partly in China, is 4.52 meters long, 1.79 meters wide, and has a wheelbase of 2.64 meters. The SAIC car will come equipped with a 1.5-liter, gas-powered, 110 horsepower engine, with a Japanese-made automatic gearbox. The car will have high standard accessories, including electronically controlled seats, leather upholstery, and a premium stereo system.

The final price has not yet been determined, but the initial target price will be about NIS 110,000, which is the average price for the category of smaller cars, such as Mazda 2.

SAIC importer, David Lubinski Ltd., estimates that the accessory/price ratio will greatly help him enter the leasing market, because of the relatively low cost to the user, which is a percentage of the car’s price.

Lubinski is a private leasing company. In contrast to the original SAIC cars that have been marketed in Israel until now (only 300 have been imported since the car did not have full approval), the new Chinese sedan will be imported with all the proper authorizations. Full European standardization has recently been received, including Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA), which will enable SAIC to receive Israeli import approval. Israel will be one of the first countries to market the new SAIC car.

Renowned British automobile brand, MG has joined the growing number of automobile brands in the country courtesy of Coscharis Motors, a leading automobile marketing company which also represents BMW, Land Rover, Jaguar and Ford, in Nigeria.

Presenting the MG models to members of the Nigerian Motoring Press over the weekend in their Victoria Island Lagos office, Mrs. Helen Alechenu, Deputy General Manager Coscharis Motors described the MG as typical British brand, through manufactured in China by SAIC Motors.

According to her, “The MG, as the best representative of the United Kingdom automobile industry, has significant leverage in the United States Sports Car Market, hence MG brand history is the Chronicle of the world automobile industry.”

The Deputy General Manager who ones had a stint in the BMW, Land Rover and Ford sections of the Coscharis Auto Group, explained that the MG models being introduced into the market are comparable to the Japanese and Korean models.

“With five beautiful models, that cut across the different auto segments, the MG models look good to give the Japanese and Korean brands a good fight in the Nigerian market,” she said.

The MG models available in the country include the flagship sedan, MG 750, as well as MG6, MG 550, MG 350 and MG3.
Produced in China by SAIC Motors, a leading auto manufacturer in China which produced and sold over 2.725 million vehicles in 2009 alone, the MG models still boasts that British touch in terms of design, comfort, safety and performance.

MG Motors UK, which is majority-owned by the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), has started selling two of its models – the MG550 and the MG6 – in Brazil, the Brazilian press reported.

The MG motors models, which are represented in Brazil by Sao Paulo based company Forest Trade, will be sold for between 94,000 and 100,000 reals (between US$59,000 and US$63,000), with a number of items as standard including DVD player, satellite navigation, ABS brakes, light and rain sensors and 17-inch tyres.

The MG Car Company was founded in the 1920s and produced cars continuously until the autumn of 1980. After two attempts to re-launch production, the second of which was commercially successfully, the MG brand and the Rover brand, merged to become the MG Rover group in May, 2000, and production came to a stop in April, 2005 when the group went into receivership.

MG Rover’s assets were acquired in July, 2005 by Nanjing Automobile, which was later acquired by Chinese group Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.

SAIC Motor Corporation, the owner of MG Motors, plans to develop several new models for the British brand in order to boost sales outside its home market in China. The Chinese owner of MG Motors has already spent £1 billion ($1.64 billion) to re-launch the MG and Roewe brands (former Rover) and intends to invest another £2.2 billion ($3.6 billion) to achieve annual sales of 700,000 by 2015.

In 2010, the two brands sold 160,397 cars, most of which were delivered in China, with only 2,000 units exported to other markets. This past April, MG launched its new mid-size MG6 in the UK, the first new car to be assembled at the British firm’s Longbridge plant in 16 years. The company said that when it completes the development of a diesel version, it will offer the car to rest of Europe. “We will not go into mainland Europe without a diesel,” UK managing director, William Wong, told Autonews.

The five-door MG6 is currently available with a 1.8-liter turbocharged gasoline engine and is priced from £15,500 (€17,650). Aside from the MG6, the British automaker is preparing a range of six new models: the MG3, MG5, MG7, an SUV-style crossover, a replacement for the TF roadster and a small electric car.

The MG3 is a small hatchback that has already been launched in China and is destined to go on sale in the UK at the end of 2012. Next up is the MG5, a compact model designed to compete in the C-segment against the Volkswagen Golf and Opel Astra, which was shown as a concept the Shanghai auto show this past April and is set to arrive in Europe in 2013.

The following year the company will launch the MG7 large sedan that is said to share GM’s Epsilon 2 platform with the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia as part of a partnership between GM and SAIC in China. That same year, MG is planning to unveil a small crossover model to rival the Nissan Qashqai.

Finally, the TF roadster will get a replacement in 2016 in the UK, while a small EV based on the Roewe E1 concept is also planned for launch.

Source: Autonews