SAIC confirms that the first European plant will produce electric cars, which may not be limited to the Mingjue brand

CTOnews.com, July 6-SAIC has previously confirmed that it is looking to build its first European plant, and a spokesman for the company recently told BBC that the planned plant will produce electric cars, and SAIC has not yet decided whether to produce Mingjue models at the plant.

A spokesman for ▲ Tuyuan SAIC Mingjue said: "We have many brands, including MG, IM and Maxus. We are still deciding which brands will be produced in the factory." According to CTOnews.com 's previous report, the plant is still in the site selection stage, and SAIC will finalize other details about the project as soon as possible.

In 1906, the Longbridge Automobile Factory in Birmingham, England, was established, where Mingjue and the original Mini cars were produced. The Longbridge factory survived World War I and World War II, and became an important force for Britain to resist economic depression and the rise of foreign automobile industry after the war.

After the collapse of Mingjue Land Rover in 2005, the Changqiao plant stopped production, in which the Mingjue brand was eventually acquired by SAIC. In 2011, the Mingjue 6 went on sale, the first Mingjue car to be assembled at the Longbridge factory six years later. In 2016, SAIC announced that Mingjue cars would no longer be assembled in the UK.

In the first half of 2023, SAIC sold a total of 530000 new cars in overseas markets, an increase of 40% over the same period last year, while the Mingjue brand sold 370000 vehicles worldwide. SAIC said Europe was its largest overseas market.

In addition to its manufacturing plants in China, SAIC currently has production bases in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Pakistan.