Gasgoo.com (Shanghai October 3) - SAIC Motor's Executive Vice President Chen Zhixin believes that the key area Chinese manufacturers should take hold of is new energy vehicles. "Looking at the present, chances for Chinese manufacturers overtaking America's GM, Germany's VW and Japan's Toyota in the realm of traditional [fuel-powered] automobiles are very small, however, in the field of new energy vehicles, it is still possible," China Business News reported Mr. Chen as saying.

Mr. Chen's statement is reinforced by the recently revealed Roewe 750 Hybrid (pictured), which made its market debut in Shanghai last month. SAIC will begin selling the pure electric Roewe E50 to individual buyers next October. According to company statements, SAIC hopes for new energy vehicles to account for 20 percent of its total sales.

SAIC has already invested 2 billion yuan ($314.79m) in developing electric vehicles, Mr. Chen said, adding that in the next five years it will invest a further 6 billion yuan ($944.37m).

Despite the fact that official government policies regarding energy-saving and new energy vehicle market development have not yet been unveiled, many manufacturers have already begun producing EV models. In addition to the Roewe 750, Shanghai GM's Buick LaCrosse eAssist Hybrid, Lexus' CT200 and BYD's pure electric E6 have already hit the market.