Shanghai (ZXZC)- On Mar. 15, SAIC Motor began the maiden voyage of its self-operated shipping route that runs from China’s Ningde city to Mexico, according to a post on the auto group’s WeChat account.

With the first 1,000 MG-branded vehicles carried, the AnJi Phoenix, the largest ro-ro vehicle carrier of SAIC Motor, sailed from the exclusive roll-on/roll-off berth at the Ningde Port in Fujian province to the Lazaro Cardenas Port in Mexico.

Photo credit: SAIC Motor

With the operation of the Ningde-Mexico shipment route started, SAIC Motor's Ningde plant has become China’s first vehicle production base to integrate multiple logistics modes such as warehousing, as well as road, railway, and ocean transportation.

In 2007, the MG brand officially launched its “global strategy” by tapping the auto market of Chile. Then, its global annual sales surpassed 10,000 units, 50,000 units, and 150,000 units in 2009, 2011, and 2017, respectively, and hit the milestone of 300,000 units in 2019. The brand scored a year-on-year jump in its yearly global sales in 2022, which exceeded 660,000 units.

Besides, the MG4 ELECTRIC (named MG MULAN in China), which the automaker touts as “the first global vehicle in China’s automotive industry”, was launched simultaneously in China and Europe in Sept. last year. The model has already “landed” in nearly 30 European countries with over 10,000 new orders received per month.

The MG brand aims to sell 800,000 vehicles around the world this year and achieve the 1-million-unit annual global sales target next year.