The deployment of Chinese MG operations in the Old Continent has been more than a success. Its strategy focused on gaining market share with knockdown prices is giving it more than satisfactory results.
The Chinese company, belonging to the SAIC group, is the one that more sales accumulate between January and October in the main European markets (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom).
The truth is that Spain is the country in which the most companies of Chinese origin have landed, with a total of 15 automobile companies. Germany, the most important automobile market on the Old Continent, has eight companies. France, for its part, has six automobile companies of Chinese origin, while the United Kingdom already has five companies. Italy is the market with the least presence of Chinese car companies, with a total of four. In these five markets, a total of 7.5 million passenger cars have been sold between January and October, of which 2.8% correspond to Chinese brand models. Now, more than seven out of every ten Chinese models that have been sold in these markets correspond to MG.
The company has more than 120 years of history and several owners. In 2005, Nanjing Automobile, China’s oldest automobile, bought it for $87 million. Two years later, the SAIC group merged with Nanjing after disbursing just over $280 million. It was then that a strategy began to be designed to enter more European markets.
The market in which MG has the most weight among Chinese brands is France. There it has sold a total of 22,800 vehicles until October, three times more than in the same period of the previous year and a share of 96.7% among Chinese firms.
Nevertheless, It is in the United Kingdom where MG has the greatest sales volume, since it is the market where it originated. In this market it accumulates a total of 67,739 units, 57.3% more year-on-year and a penetration among automobile companies of Chinese origin that reaches 84.6%.
In Spain, MG has sold 23,142 units until October, almost five times more than in the same period of the previous year. A situation that has allowed the company to achieve a market penetration among Chinese brands of 77.7%. In fact, Spain is a “serious candidate” to host a factory for the Chinese brand, as recognized by the vice-president-country manager of MG Motor Spain, Pedro García, at the end of October.
It is in Germany and Italy where the market share has not managed to reach such high levels. In the German case, sales have reached 16,982 units, 78.2% more than what was achieved between January and October of last year. Thus, MG’s market share among Chinese automobile companies stands at 55.2%.
In Italy it is also the best-selling brand, although slightly above DR. And it is the origin of the latter that is also Italian, although it is dedicated to importing JAC Motors and Chery. In Italy, MG has quadrupled sales until October, with a total of 23,865 units and a share among Chinese firms of 48.6%.
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