Hu Maoyuan, the president of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, has disclosed to local media that SAIC Group will invest CNY6 billion over the next two years for research and development on new energy vehicles.

At the China Clean Energy International Summit, Hu said that CNY2 billion of the CNY6 billion investment, will be used to set up a new energy vehicle R&D company, CNY2 billion will be used for manufacturing new energy vehicle parts and the remainder will be spent on building a car manufacturing plant.

Hu stated that SAIC Group's plan is to launch a hybrid power car with fuel savings of 20%-30% in 2010 and launch a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and an electric vehicle offering energy savings of 50% in 2012.

Hu, who is also the director of the China Automobile Association, said that despite the large number of vehicles that China's automobile industry has produced this year, the industry has realized that it must maintain sustainable development as it is aware of the serious pollution and energy problems that has resulted from manufacturing traditional vehicles. He pointed out that the R&D of new energy vehicles calls for a joint action of the Chinese auto makers in addition to the policy and financial supports of the Chinese government.