Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) plans to boost sales of car parts in North America to about US$700m in five years, from an estimated US$175m in 2002, said a senior company official. Although this still represents only a small proportion of the company's total revenue, meeting stringent North American quality requirements should improve its competitiveness in China.
US auto-makers are buying increasing quantities of auto parts from the Chinese market. For example, Ford said that it would buy US$1bn of parts from China by the middle of 2003, as part of a drive to cut costs.