SHANGHAI -- Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. is developing small vehicles for three brands from a new platform, say supplier and industry sources.

 

Ssangyong Motor Co. will get a small car and a crossover. MG and Roewe will each get a small car.

 

Ssangyong, which is owned 51 percent by SAIC, will produce the vehicles in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

 

Suppliers to the AP11 platform say Ssangyong has confirmed a five-year production order for 600,000 units. The vehicles are expected to hit showrooms in the fourth quarter of 2009.

 

Expansion is underway at the Nanjing plant. Annual capacity of the Nanjing Pukou plant will be 200,000 vehicles and 250,000 engines, says SAIC in a written statement to Automotive News China.

 

Asked about the shared platform for Ssangyong, MG and Roewe, SAIC spokesperson Iris Zhou said: "We can not comment on the details of our future products until they are officially launched on the market."