SAIC Motor, one of China’s leading automotive groups, recently reached a strategic partnership between SAIC Motor Insurance Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned captive insurance company of SAIC Motor, and Lockton, the world's largest independent insurance brokerage company. The two parties will focus on the internationalization process of SAIC Motor's brand and carry out in-depth cooperation in the fields of risk management, insurance solutions and cross-border operation support to help China's automobile industry achieve high-quality and sustainable international development.
On the background of a new round of technological revolution and accelerated industrial transformation, China's automobile industry is accelerating its transformation and upgrading in the direction of electrification, intelligence, and connectivity. A group of Chinese automobile companies with technological innovation capabilities and scale advantages are continuing to expand overseas markets and increase their influence and voice in the global new energy vehicle and intelligent connected vehicle industries. In this process, how to effectively deal with complex risks in overseas operations has become an important issue for automobile companies to achieve a steady "going out".
This strategic cooperation brings together SAIC's leading advantages in automobile manufacturing, technological innovation and global layout, as well as Lockton's professional capabilities in cross-border risk consulting, insurance arrangements and global market services. The two parties will jointly explore a collaborative model with "industry + service" as the core. While supporting technological innovation and brand internationalization, they will also strengthen risk management capabilities and provide a more solid guarantee system for Chinese automobile companies to participate in global competition.
As Chinese automobile brands accelerate their overseas expansion, the risks faced by enterprises are becoming increasingly diversified and systematic, covering geopolitics, compliance with regulations and standards, supply chains, exchange rate fluctuations, product liability, as well as data security and technical governance challenges brought about by intelligent connected vehicles. Especially in the fields of new energy vehicles, autonomous driving, and in-vehicle chips, the international market has continuously increasing requirements for product safety, quality stability, and compliance. Through this cooperation, SAIC Motor Insurance and its business demand parties and Lockton will promote a more forward-looking and systematic risk management approach to support companies in achieving compliant operations and steady development in different markets.
One of the important directions of cooperation focuses on the actual needs of Chinese automobile companies for overseas development, jointly improving insurance and risk management solutions covering overseas production, sales and after-sales links, promoting the coordination of risk management with technological innovation and standard application, improving corporate operational resilience and cost predictability, and providing strong support for the international application of new energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles.
Ma Jian, General Manager，SAIC Motor Insurance Co., Ltd., said: "The next stage for Chinese automobile companies to go global is not only competition in products and scale, but also a comprehensive reflection of governance capabilities, technical standards and global synergy. Through this cooperation, we hope to promote technological innovation and brand 'upward development' while exploring operations and risk management practices that are more in line with international rules, and help Chinese automobile brands continue to enhance their international competitiveness and global influence."
At the specific level of cooperation, the two parties will also combine SAIC's technological accumulation in the fields of new energy vehicles and intelligence, as well as Lockton's global market insights, to focus on exploring overseas insurance structure design, after-sales service risk protection, and new risk solutions related to data and technology, to support Chinese automobile companies in forming a more consistent and sustainable operating model in different markets.
In addition, through collaborative cooperation with overseas professional service organizations, this strategic partnership will also help promote a more lightweight and collaborative internationalization path, allowing Chinese automobile companies to focus more on their core strengths, such as electrification technology, intelligent driving functions, product innovation and brand building, while managing non-core but critical compliance and risk matters more efficiently.
As intelligent interconnection functions, advanced driving assistance systems and OTA upgrades are widely used around the world, the two parties will also cooperate on emerging risks such as cybersecurity, data protection, technical liability and OTA upgrade governance to assist Chinese automobile companies in steadily promoting the overseas application of intelligent technology while complying with the regulatory requirements of various countries.
Jaideep (Jay) Sharma, Regional Head of Specialties, Lockton Asia, said “Global expansion today is no longer just about scale—it is about managing complexity across regulatory regimes, technical systems, and customer expectations. Through this partnership with SAIC Motor, Lockton brings a proactive, forward-looking risk management concept to support innovation-driven automobile companies to improve their stability and long-term value in the international market."