With the rapid growth of overseas business, SAIC Began to expand the size of its own fleet

Reporter | Li Yimeng

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In overseas markets, SAIC Motor, whose product sales continue to rise, is seeking to strengthen its export business by expanding the size of its logistics company's own fleet.

China's largest automotive manufacturing group announced on Monday (January 17) that it has officially signed an agreement with China State Shipbuilding Group to customize two LNG dual-fuel ro-ro vessels for SAIC's Anji Logistics.

This move may be seen as a visual reflection of the growing scale of SAIC's export business in recent years.

According to the latest statistics of the China Automobile Association, China's automobile exports reached 2.015 million units in 2021, an increase of 101.1% year-on-year. Saic's overseas sales in the same period were as high as 697,000 units, topping the export volume of Chinese automobile manufacturers for the sixth consecutive year, accounting for 34.6% of China's total automobile exports – equivalent to every three Chinese cars sold overseas, one manufactured by SAIC.

Up to now, SAIC's products and services have spread to more than 70 countries and regions around the world. In six core regional markets, including Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the Americas, the Middle East, ASEAN and South Asia, SAIC's business scale has exceeded 50,000 vehicles.

As SAIC's own logistics company, Anji Logistics plays a bridging role in this process, closely connecting SAIC's manufacturing base in China with overseas markets across the ocean.

The predecessor of Anji Logistics is the Long March Storage and Transportation Operation Department of SAIC Automobile Sales, which was established in February 1989. After more than 30 years of development, the logistics company, which started as Santana model transportation, has now developed into a leading auto parts and vehicle logistics company in the world.

By the end of 2021, the output value of the enterprise will reach 26.9 billion yuan. Every year, the number of vehicles traveling between countries through Anji Logistics has reached the level of 10 million.

Wang Zemin, general manager of SAIC Anji Logistics Co., Ltd., said at a media briefing held last week that the company's current logistics network in China covers more than 600 cities, with more than 30 waterway trunk lines, 130 railway trunk lines and 4900 highway trunk lines, and the fleet size exceeds 1500 vehicles.

Globally, Anji Logistics has opened 6 international routes, covering major markets such as Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Mexico and South America, covering more than 100 countries.

"At the business level, Anji Logistics has three major business groups, the most core of which is the vehicle logistics business group, which occupies about 45% of the market share in the domestic business volume." Wang Zemin said.

In addition, Anji Logistics also has a supply chain business group, which mainly focuses on the automobile manufacturing sector and provides parts supply and transportation services. At present, for the world's top 50 auto parts companies, the business coverage rate of Anji Logistics has reached 80%-90%.

At the same time, the company has built the largest domestic automobile enterprise self-operated fleet, with 12 river ships, 13 domestic trade ships, 6 foreign trade special ships, including various types of automobile ships, a total of 31.

Anji Logistics' strong international transportation capabilities have played a supporting role in SAIC's vehicle export business.

Wang Zemin confirmed that at present, Anji Logistics "covers nearly 80% of SAIC's export business, and the coverage rate of various types of business within the group is close to 100%."

In addition to providing services to SAIC Group, Anji Logistics' service targets include other automakers with import and export business, including luxury brands such as BMW and Land Rover, as well as China's own auto brands such as Great Wall, Changan, Geely, Dongfeng and Chery, as well as some new car-making forces.

In fact, the "Chinese intelligent manufacturing" represented by the SCO Group is being accepted by more and more overseas automobile consumers.

For example, the MG brand of the above automobile passenger car, the brand's overseas sales reached 360,000 units last year alone, becoming the champion of overseas sales of a single brand in China. At present, in 17 countries around the world, MG has entered the top ten sales of single car brands. In addition, SAIC Maxus' MAXUS brand also sold 52,000 units overseas last year, becoming the first Chinese auto brand to achieve full coverage of the European light commercial vehicle electric segment.

In this case, the capacity of Anji Logistics is also being tested.

"Since last year, the entire foreign trade capacity has been highly scarce, so we have also dispatched all resources for foreign trade development, and we are looking forward to the early use of the two new ships." Talking about the reasons for the addition of double roll-on ships, Xin Jianmin, deputy general manager of SAIC Anji Logistics Co., Ltd., explained.

In terms of technical specifications, Anji Logistics can provide 7,600 parking spaces suitable for international standard size passenger cars for the double roll-ro boat customized by CSSC, and about 5,300 vehicles can be loaded for medium-sized and above-size models such as passats.

What's more, the new ship will be powered by LNG dual fuels. Compared to conventional power, it will consume 15% less energy and meet the more stringent carbon tax standards in Europe after 2023.

In addition, the new double-rolling boat has also been specifically designed according to new energy models such as intelligent networking and hydrogen fuel that SAIC will launch in the future. "In the future, we are also considering some intelligent upgrades on ships. For example, through intelligent positioning technology, the car can be automatically driven up. Wang Zemin said.

Anji Logistics confirmed that the two new double roll-ro ships are expected to be put into service in the first quarter and second quarter of 2024. At that time, the size of SAIC Anji Logistics' self-operated fleet will reach 33.

The strengthening of logistics capabilities will undoubtedly help Anji Logistics achieve more efficient vehicle transportation, thus making SAIC's overseas business more competitive. Taking the MG brand as an example, SAIC Motor, with the help of its own logistics system, has a significant advantage in the speed of delivery of its products in the European market.

"Our lead time is obviously shorter than that of local mainstream brands, who take the lead time as a month, while we take the week as a unit, which can be understood as an order of magnitude difference." Guan Yizhong, general manager of the public relations department of SAIC, said.