MG sold about 280,000 cars in Europe this year, up 23 per cent, and passed one million cumulative deliveries there. SAIC’s own read on that achievement is that it is no longer enough, and the group used a Shanghai industry forum on 23 October to explain what replaces it.
Cheng Juzheng, director of innovation research and development at SAIC, told the 14th Automotive and Environment Innovation Forum that the company is moving from product export to system export, describing the shift as a matter of survival rather than ambition.
The numbers first
SAIC sold 1.071 million vehicles overseas in 2025. In the first nine months of 2026 it has already sold 1.106 million, more than the whole of last year. MG’s roughly 280,000 European sales represent 23 per cent growth, taking cumulative European deliveries past one million and extending a run of 11 consecutive years as the best-selling Chinese brand in the region. Total overseas deliveries for the group have passed seven million vehicles.
Why the old formula is failing
Cheng argued that the dividend from simply exporting product is narrowing. Tariffs and subsidy pressure are biting, regulation is tightening, and buyers increasingly expect finance, after-sales service, charging and software support alongside the car. The competitive basis has to move from product strength and price to a system made of research, manufacturing, supply chain, channels and service.
SAIC’s answer is its Glocal 3.0 strategy, which pushes localisation into each market. The group has vehicle and knocked-down assembly plants in Thailand, Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Egypt, and a research centre in Frankfurt. Its Anji Logistics arm operates 42 owned ro-ro vessels with annual ocean capacity of 600,000 vehicles.
Cheng also warned the industry against exporting its domestic price war, urging a longer-term approach and a shift from selling a Chinese solution to building a global one.
The Frankfurt research centre is the detail to watch. Selling cars into Europe invites tariffs. Designing and sourcing inside Europe, with Chinese cost discipline, is a different negotiation, and it is the one SAIC is now staffing for.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original Gasgoo report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://auto.gasgoo.com/news/202610/23I70475740C109.shtml.