BAIC Group bets big on new energy

Beijing Automotive Group Co Ltd, or BAIC Group, is betting big on new energy vehicles as it faces increasingly tough competition in the world's largest car market.

The new energy auto sector is one of the company's two trump cards together with SUVs, said Xu Heyi, president of the fifth-biggest Chinese auto group by unit sales. The company will collaborate with new partners in vehicle and component manufacturing, as well as in various parts of the new energy vehicle industry, Xu said.

BAIC has been gaining momentum in the sector in recent years, with sales of such vehicles bearing its own brands doubling last year to 103,000. Deliveries of its new energy models also soared by 78.5 percent to 54,000 vehicles during the first half of the year, the automaker said.