SAIC and Nanjing merger nears

The rumored merger between Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) and Nanjing Automobile Group is expected to be finalized within the next two weeks, according to a report in the Beijing Times.

The report claims that Nanjing would own 5-15% of SAIC and would be absorbed by SAIC. This ties in with the July 27 letter of intent that SAIC will gain 100% of Nanjing Auto in exchange for a share of SAIC going to Nanjing’s parent company Yueijin Auto Group. Nanjing Owns the rights to the MG name and is making MG ZT and TF models for the domestic market while SAIC owns the rights to the Rover 75 that sells in the Chinese market under its Roewe 750 nameplate.

The Chinese government has recently been encouraging consolidation of the local market to create a number of larger car companies that can compete with foreign rivals at home and abroad. If this merger is successful we may see the sort of product diversity that we get from China with other products come to the car market. With SAIC owning the Rover 75 and Nanjing owning the MG name, could we see a cheaper MG ZT 260 replacement? We sure hope so.