SAIC Motor reshuffles leadership amid sluggish sales, EU tariffs

SAIC Motor president Wang Xiaoqiu has been elected chairman in a leership reshuffle as China's largest automaker contends with sluggish domestic sales and hefty tariffs in European Union.

Wang succeeds Chen Hong, who resigned upon reaching retirement age of 63, according to a company filing with Shanghai stock market on Wednesday. Vice president Jia Jianxu now serves as president.

Wang, 59, is a seasoned auto executive with an engineering background, having started as a quality control manager at SAIC and previously heing joint venture with General Motors.

leership changes at state-owned automaker occur as SAIC plans to request a hearing from European Commission regarding high tariffs on its EV exports to EU. provisional duties, ranging from 17.4 per cent to 37.6 per cent, are intended to prevent what EU has described as a flood of cheap, state-subsidized Chinese EVs, a stance that China strongly opposes.

se EU tariffs, coupled with sluggish domestic sales, pose significant challenges for SAIC. company's joint ventures with Volkswagen and GM have seen a decline in sales amid weak demand and intensified competition in China's auto market, where a prolonged price war has drawn in over 40 brands.

SAIC-VW sales fell 14.4 per cent in June compared to previous year, while sales at its JV with GM plummeted 72 per cent. Overall, SAIC recorded an 11.8 per cent drop in first-half car sales, totaling 1.83 million units. More than a quarter of its vehicles were delivered to overseas markets during this period, with its MG brand being best-selling Chinese EV brand in Europe.

In contrast, China's electric vehicle giant BYD sold 1.61 million passenger vehicles in first half, marking a 28.8 per cent year-on-year increase, closing gap with Tesla after handing back world's top EV vendor title to US competitor in first quarter.

(With Reuters inputs)