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SAIC says no plan to acquire Chrysler

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-03-10 15:24

Chen Hong, vice board chairman of theShanghaiAutomotive Industry Corp (SAIC), on Saturday denied earlier media reports that the Chinese automaker was considering bidding for a stake in the US-based carmaker Chrysler.

"We have no plan to acquire Chrysler," Chen said on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), or parliament.

Chen, a deputy to the NPC, is here to attend the session which is scheduled to close next Friday.

The speculation surfaced after Dieter Zetsche, chief executive of parent Daimler Chrysler AG, said on Feb. 14 that all options were on the table for money-losing Chrysler and he would not rule out the possibility of sale.

Chrysler announced in February that it lost 1.48 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, compared with US$2.02 billion of profits in 2005.

"SAIC also has no plan to go listing inHong Kong," said Chen, adding that the priority is to improve corporate governance of its Shanghai-listed subsidiary companies in a bid to boost the group's domestic market share.

According to Chen, SAIC sold 1.34 automobiles, including 915,000 passenger vehicles, in 2006, up 27 percent from a year earlier, becoming the top car seller in China.