(Yicai) Aug. 11 -- GAC Group, which own auto brands such as Trumpchi, Aion, and Hycan, is busy working on new models targeting buyers in Russia, a country that imports most of its foreign cars from China, it has been reported.

The new models will be available to Russian buyers as soon as possible, Shanghai Securities News reported today, citing an insider at the Chinese state-owned auto giant.

GAC has shown some new models, possibly destined for the Russian market, to foreign journalists at its factory in Urumqi, the capital city of China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the report added. They included the GAC Emkoo, a compact sport utility vehicle, the GAC Empow, a sports sedan, and the GS3 Power, a compact crossover SUV.

Almost 76 percent of all cars imported into Russia came from China in the first half of this year. Last year, Russians bought 121,800 China-made vehicles. Chery, Haval, and Geely were the three most popular brands, making up over 80 percent of the total.

Guangzhou-based GAC sold around 2.4 million units in 2022, up 14 percent from the year before. Revenue jumped 46 percent to CNY190.3 billion (USD26.4 billion), while net profit rose 10 percent to CNY8 billion (USD1.1 billion).

GAC’s shares [SHA: 601238] finished 2.4 percent lower at CNY11.12 (USD1.54) each in Shanghai today. Its Hong Kong-listed equity [HKG: 2238] fell 2.8 percent to HKD4.49 (57 US cents).

Editor: Emmi Laine