Growth declines at largest auto firm

SHARES in SAIC Motor fell 2.6 percent yesterday after its net profit growth slowed during the first half.

But analysts said the nation’s largest auto group nonetheless leads the overall industry after the withdrawal of government incentives resulted in slower vehicle sales.

SAIC said net income was 8.6 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) during the first six months of this year, 46 percent higher than the same period last year compared with a 306 percent first-half surge in 2010.

Shanghai-based SAIC, which partners General Motors and Volkswagen to make Buick and Passat saloon cars, boosted sales by 13 percent to 2 million units in the first six months, four times the 3.4 percent increase for China’s overall auto market.

Most sales were contributed by its flagship venture Shanghai GM and Shanghai VW, which each reported sales growth of 28 percent. Sales of its own-brand Roewe and MG totaled 80,395 units, almost unchanged from a year earlier as Chinese brands are more sensitive to the government incentives that were phased out this year.

Zuo Tao, of Guosen Securities, said: “Sales of its own-brand vehicles have fallen noticeably since the second quarter, lagging behind the overall Chinese-branded car market. But as own brands also aim at a higher market position with high-quality products, business return will gradually emerge in the mid to long term.”

Chen Zhixin, vice president of SAIC Motor, earlier told reporters SAIC will be investing more than 20 billion yuan in developing own-brand vehicles during the 12th Five-Year Plan ending 2015, pushing total investment in own-brand vehicles to 45 billion yuan.

The company aims to sell 230,000 Roewe and MG vehicles this year.

Brother claims Lockerbie bomber is near death

THE Libyan man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is near death and slipping in and out of consciousness, his brother said yesterday, insisting he should not return to prison for the 1998 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people.

Calls that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi be returned to prison have increased in the United States and Europe since rebel forces seized Tripoli last week.

“He is between life and death, so what difference would prison make?” asked his brother, Abdel-Nasser al-Megrahi, standing outside the family’s house in an upscale Tripoli neighborhood.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was convicted for the bombing in 2001, was freed from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds in August 2009, after doctors estimated he had three months to live. He was greeted as a hero in Libya and recently appeared on TV in a wheelchair at a pro-Moammar Gadhafi rally.

His release, after serving eight years of a life sentence, infuriated the families of many Lockerbie victims, most of them American.

Two New York senators recently asked Libya’s transitional government to hold al-Megrahi fully accountable for the Pan Am bombing. But the head of the semi-autonomous Scottish government, First Minister Alex Salmond, told reporters that only his administration would have the legal right to demand al-Megrahi’s extradition – and that it had no intention of doing so, as he had abided by the conditions set when he was released.

On Sunday, rebel transitional government Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagi said that the renewed demands for punishment had “no meaning,” because al-Megrahi had already been tried and convicted. But yesterday he appeared to backtrack, saying officials knew the issue was important but that any discussions would have to wait until an elected government was in place.

Hamilton apologizes for crash at Spa

MCLAREN’S Lewis Hamilton shouldered the blame and apologized to his Formula One team after yet another accident in a crash-strewn season ended his Belgian Grand Prix hopes on Sunday.

The 2008 world champion, winner at Spa last year, speared into the metal barriers at Les Combes after trying to pass Sauber’s Japanese Kamui Kobayashi for fourth place.

Commentators were divided on who was to blame, with McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh making a strong defense of the Briton, but Hamilton said it was his fault.

“After watching the replay, I realize it was my fault today 100%. I didn’t give Kobayashi enough room though I thought (I) was past,” he said on his Twitter account after he had left the circuit. “Apologies to Kamui and to my team. The team deserves better from me.”

The accident happened on the 13th of the 44 scheduled laps when the McLaren’s rear left wheel touched the Sauber’s front right, a contact that sent Hamilton’s car careering off the track and into the metal barriers.

Having started the afternoon 88 points adrift of Red Bull’s championship leader Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton ended the day 113 behind the German with a maximum of 175 points still to be won.

Whitmarsh, who last year dubbed Vettel a ‘Crash Kid’ after the German shunted McLaren’s Jenson Button out at Spa, found himself defending Hamilton’s attitude and record instead on a day when Red Bull was triumphant.

“Lewis is someone who attracts extremes,” he told reporters. “He’s an immensely competitive, passionate racing driver and people know they have got to commit quite heavily to get past him and he’s always going to commit to get past.

“I think Lewis Hamilton makes Formula One a more exciting place to be,” added Whitmarsh.

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