On May 28, SAIC Group held the "Global 100 Millionth User Delivery Ceremony" at the North Bund World Living Room in Shanghai. How grand was this event? More than ten vehicle brands and nineteen car models under SAIC Group relayed from Shanghai all the way to Nanjing, Liuzhou, Taiyuan, and even crossed national borders to the UK, Indonesia, and Singapore – all live globally. But upon closer inspection, the "starting whistle" for all this was blown by two Shangjie units.
The 999,999,996th and 999,999,997th units cumulatively delivered by SAIC Group were both Shangjie brand vehicles.
Two cars, an electric purple-pink Shangjie Z7 and an amber gold-green Z7T, were personally handed to two young owners by SAIC Group Chairman Jia Jianxu. The numbers themselves are worth mulling over – falling short of 100 million units, just three or four steps away. In other words, the moment all eyes focused on Shangjie, the milestone of 100 million units was just behind a sheet of paper.
This is obviously no coincidence.
SAIC leaving such an important "pre-billion night" to Shangjie sends a very clear signal: This brand is not just a casual endeavor. It is a true "deep interlock" between SAIC and Huawei – not a brand sticker or shell fitting cooperation, but a collaboration where both teams worked together from underlying R&D to production line planning, from three-electric architecture to intelligent driving solutions.
Now, all of these assets are bet on Shangjie. SAIC Group's attitude is very clear, the most mature production lines, the best technology, the best talent, "All in Shangjie".
Why the effort? Because with new energy penetration rates already reaching 60%, SAIC needs a brand capable of tearing open a gap in the mainstream market. Zhiji targets the high-end, Roewe and MG have their own positions, but the biggest and most competitive cake between 150,000 and 250,000 lacks a truly capable role. Shangjie is that role.
And Huawei's addition completes the final piece of the puzzle. Huawei Qiankun Intelligent Driving, HarmonyOS Cockpit, Smart Mobility Solutions – placing these tags into the mainstream price range makes a different impact. Not to mention, just look at the expressions of those two young people receiving keys at the delivery site, and you know this combination punch hit the right spot for someone.
Before delivery of the Shangjie Z7 and Z7T, 1,300 vehicles participated in testing, cumulatively driving 11 million kilometers, from the freeze of Mohe to the roast of Turpan, from the Tibetan Plateau into the Hainan rainforest, leaving tire marks in 75% of the province within the country. The body uses 91% high-strength steel and aluminum alloy, 14 places of 2,000 MPa hot-formed steel – at this level, few dare to compare the numbers on the table. Even the car paint was not sloppy, collaborating with the WGSN Color Institute to create 10 trending colors, not decided on a whim, but finalized after truly pondering what tone young people want.
More critically, it's the pace. After the Z7 series opened large pre-orders, relying on SAIC Group's manufacturing strength, production capacity is already ramping up, and bulk delivery can begin by the end of May. From order to delivery, there were no delays. This speed relies not on slogans, but on the entire manufacturing system supporting it from behind.
Back to the number of 100 million units. It is certainly huge, huge enough to be abstract. But if you break it down – the 999,999,996th and 999,999,997th units were Shangjie,
SAIC handed over the "last kick" of 100 million units to Shangjie. Delivered were not two cars, but an attitude: On the road to the next 100 million units, Shangjie must lead the way.
