China's top automaker SAIC Motor was again the sales champion among domestic carmakers with 59.02 million vehicles purchased in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 5 percent.

The Chinese auto market experienced a slowdown in 2015, however SAIC maintained its leadership in the auto industry with its innovation-driven development strategy. Focusing on Internet, new energy and intelligence, SAIC has launched a series of popular models including the ROEWE E950 plug-in hybrid and its MG IGS intelligent-drive car.

In 2015, more than 10,000 of the hybrid plug-in ROEWE E550 sold, three times the number of 2014. Now SAIC is committed to improving the core technologies of new energy cars, including Electric Drive Units (EDU), double motors and batteries. The company plans to roll out more than 40 models of new energy cars to form a competitive industrial chain. By 2020, the sales volume of new energy vehicles is expected to exceed 600,000 units, including 200,000 SAIC own brand ones, which is expected to occupy over 20 percent of the domestic new energy sector’s total.

SAIC has partnered up with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to build “cars on the Internet”. The Internet car is under testing and is slated to enter the market in the second half of 2016, in a bid to build a new travelling system and business model.

The intelligent driving car is also part of SAIC’s cutting-edge technologies, which attracted great attention after being displayed at a recent auto exhibition, and has completed more than 14,000 kilometers of road testing.

Meanwhile, SAIC has set up a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley and an innovation center in California to add investment on up-to-date technologies and to better fit customers’ demands.

Apart from efforts on industrial and financial integration, SAIC is dedicated to service innovation with a particular focus on its e-commerce platform. The platform sees daily hits of about 500,000, with more than 2 million registered users. It also provides new energy vehicle rental services with more than 200 cars and 30 service stations. Furthermore, a charge company has been set up to promote charge services around the country, with 50,000 charge facilities to be built by 2020.

SAIC demonstrated its leading position not only among its Chinese peers, but also in the global market, which has established business networks in Europe, North and South America, ASEAN, Africa and Australia, and engages in auto R&D, production, marketing services, investment platform operations and international trade.

Sound marketing service networks have been formed as the company built an MG manufacturing facility in Thailand, where its MG3 and MG5 have enjoyed increasing popularity; the Maxus have made inroads in 37 countries and regions; and construction of a production base in Indonesia has broken ground. The display of MG and Maxus at the Dubai Motor Show 2015 was also part of the SAIC Motor's strategy to move into the global market.

SAIC also recently reached an agreement with Shanghai SIPG Football Club on brand promotion and marketing, with the aim of expanding its global influence.

The year of 2016 is the beginning of China’s 13th Five-year Plan (2016-2020), as well as a milestone for SAIC. This year, SAIC aims to raise 15 billion yuan ($2.32 billion) to plunge into new energy, Internet and intelligent-driving cars, as well as auto service and finance.

The company will continue to deepen its innovation development strategy to forge a world-famous auto company, lead the future auto life, and contribute to the transformation of China's auto sector.