Shanghai based SAIC Motor Corp China's largest publicly traded automaker reported it sold 4.49 million vehicles last year, a 12% increase from 2011.
The figure includes 1.39 million units sold by Shanghai General Motors and 1.28 million units by Shanghai Volkswagen, up 13.1% and 9.79% respectively from a year earlier.
Deliveries of SAIC's minivan joint venture SAIC-GM-Wuling rose 12.1% to 1.46 million units while sales of its self owned brands Roewe and MG soared 23.5% to hit 200,000 units, worth 20 CNY billion (USD 3.21 billion).
SAIC said it has established a globalized research and development system for its brands with a team of nearly 3,000 engineers working in Shanghai, Nanjing and Britain. The automaker expects to complete construction of its CNY 4.4 billion technology center in Shanghai this year.
The automaker launched the Roewe E50 in November. It is China's first self-developed and mass-produced electric car.
Next week, Shanghai is expected to grant buyers of the model the city's first free license plates for new energy vehicles. Normally, a license plate costs about CNY 65,000 at the city's monthly auction.
