SHANGHAI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), a leading player on China's automobile market, sold more than 800,000 cars in the first six months of this year, according to estimates by company sources.

    The company's annual sale target for 2007 has been set at 1.5 million.

    In the first five months, the company sold more than 700,000 cars, including 446,611 passenger vehicles, a growth of 20.7 percent year on year, and 260,000 commercial vehicles, up 28.7 percent.

    Shanghai GM, a Sino-U.S. joint venture under the SAIC, sold 189,000 passenger vehicles in the January-May period, up 13.6 percent, continuing to rank first among passenger vehicle suppliers across China.

    Another major arm of SAIC, Shanghai Volkswagen, a Sino-Germany joint venture, sold 180,000 passenger vehicles in the five-month period, up 33.3 percent, ranking second in the country.

    The sources said growth in SAIC's commercial vehicle sales was 11 percentage points higher than the national average. Of the total sales, SAIC Iveco-Hongyan accounted for 10,000 vehicles, up 80.1 percent, and SAIC GM-Wuling made up of 246,811 vehicles, up 23.3 percent.