SAIC Motor, the local number one, employs 207,000 people. The public group, owned by the State of Shanghai, may sell more than 5 million vehicles per year on a market of 30 million units.
According to Reuters, SAIC is considering cutting thousands of jobs this year. It is one of the industry giants, like Dongfeng and FAW, which allowed Western manufacturers to enter the Middle Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s through joint ventures. The Volkswagen group then General Motors built factories and won new customers on the local market.