BAIC targets acquisitions in China, Europe
Beijing Automotive Industry Group Co. plans to take over two state-owned peers later this year, and the company is once again actively eyeing a foreign acquisition to enter overseas markets.
BAIC Chairman Xu Heyi said Beijing Automotive will acquire at least one -- and perhaps two -- unnamed state-owned automakers in the second half of this year.
"If things proceed smoothly, there might be a chance for us to acquire two state-owned automakers," Xu said at a press conference Saturday to mark the establishment of the company's international division.
To give its new international division a boost, Beijing Automotive is eyeing automakers in Europe as potential takeover targets.
Investment banks have identified three medium-sized automakers with "good brand image" in Europe, said Dong Haiyang, president of the company's newly established BAIC International Development Co.
"We want to acquire such mid-sized brands in Europe while the economy is sluggish so we can use their facilities as a production base to expand there," Dong said at the press conference.
Beijing Automotive has two joint ventures to produce passenger vehicles in China with Hyundai Motor Co. and Daimler AG.
Four years ago, Beijing Automotive attempted to enter Europe and other auto markets by acquiring Adam Opel from General Motors. GM decided to retain the German subsidiary as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.
More recently, the company acquired technology and tooling for the old Saab 9-3 to produce its own models. However, Beijing Automotive hasn't had much success marketing its own brands.
China has dozens of small state-owned auto manufacturers that produce make microvans, MPVs and light trucks. The government has been pushing for consolidation in the domestic auto industry around large state-owned automakers.
But the central government has encountered resistance from provincial governments that control those small companies, so the speed of consolidation has been painfully slow.
In 2008, SAIC Motor Corp. took over Nanjing Automobile Group Corp. Two years later, China Changan Automobile Group Co. acquired Hafei Automotive Industry Group Co. and Jiangxi Changhe Automobile Co. In May, Dongfeng Motor Corp. obtained a majority stake in Southeast Motor Co.
"If things proceed smoothly, there might be a chance for us to acquire two state-owned automakers," Xu said at a press conference Saturday to mark the establishment of the company's international division.
To give its new international division a boost, Beijing Automotive is eyeing automakers in Europe as potential takeover targets.
Investment banks have identified three medium-sized automakers with "good brand image" in Europe, said Dong Haiyang, president of the company's newly established BAIC International Development Co.
"We want to acquire such mid-sized brands in Europe while the economy is sluggish so we can use their facilities as a production base to expand there," Dong said at the press conference.
Beijing Automotive has two joint ventures to produce passenger vehicles in China with Hyundai Motor Co. and Daimler AG.
Four years ago, Beijing Automotive attempted to enter Europe and other auto markets by acquiring Adam Opel from General Motors. GM decided to retain the German subsidiary as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.
More recently, the company acquired technology and tooling for the old Saab 9-3 to produce its own models. However, Beijing Automotive hasn't had much success marketing its own brands.
China has dozens of small state-owned auto manufacturers that produce make microvans, MPVs and light trucks. The government has been pushing for consolidation in the domestic auto industry around large state-owned automakers.
But the central government has encountered resistance from provincial governments that control those small companies, so the speed of consolidation has been painfully slow.
In 2008, SAIC Motor Corp. took over Nanjing Automobile Group Corp. Two years later, China Changan Automobile Group Co. acquired Hafei Automotive Industry Group Co. and Jiangxi Changhe Automobile Co. In May, Dongfeng Motor Corp. obtained a majority stake in Southeast Motor Co.
