SHANGHAI, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai-headquartered SAIC Motor said it sold 3.5 million vehicles in the first six months of the year, up 10.9 percent year on year.

In June alone, 554,100 units were sold, a growth of 7.2 percent than the same period last year, according to the company.

During the January-June period, SAIC's new energy vehicle (NEV) sales grew by 275.2 percent year-on-year to 57,400 units.

The company expects an annual sales of NEVs to top 600,000 by 2020.

According to this year's Fortune 500 list released Thursday, SAIC Motor ranks 36th and is the top-ranking Chinese automaker with an sales of 129 billion U.S. dollars last year.