SAIC confirms interest in buying UK van-maker LDV

(chinatrucks.com, Dec.3, 2009)SAIC Motor's president Chen Hong this week confirmed media reports about the company's interest in taking over British light commercial vehicle maker LDV, Reuters said.

The Chinese auto giant may acquire the Birmingham-based van maker LDV along with a local firm, Chen revealed, without giving details. Reportedly SAIC will focus on the intellectual property and related facilities of LDV, but will keep part of the latter's production in the UK.

LDV, with the Maxus-series microbus as its core product, is capable of producing 13,000 vehicles a year. Because of losses in recent years, LDV was acquired by a Russian carmaker previously, but its performance went worse amid the global financial turmoil.

In June 2009, LDV went into receivership. If the acquisition by SAIC comes through, the Chinese automaker will locally produce and sell the LDV light commercial vehicles in the UK. SAIC will export its auto parts to the UK for local assembly.

An LDV supplier claimed last month that the Maxus production would be eventually moved to China and the vast majority of the West Midland production jobs would be lost. The Maxus would be built in Shanghai alongside the Roewe, he said.

SAIC will start making its self-developed MG 6 sedan at its Longbridge plant in Birmingham in late 2010, Chen said. The company's own-brand Roewe and MG cars were based on technologies acquired from defunct British carmaker MG Rover.

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