Shanghai sedans are likely to return to the market after a 20-year absence. SAIC Group recently announced that the company is planning to revive the historic Shanghai brand of passenger vehicles.

The Shanghai sedan was born in 1958, and reached its zenith in the 1970s. It used to be the most popular car in southern China, with the Red Flag car dominating northern China as its only rival. However, SAIC established the joint venture Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Company in 1985, whose production lines were in the same factory where the Shanghai sedan was produced. Given the different market orientations of the two types of cars, SAIC moved away the production lines of Shanghai sedans, and production of the sedan was halted in November 1991 due to lack of financial and technical support.

SAIC will release more information about the resumption of the Shanghai sedan’s mass production after it works out a definite plan.