After the State-owned company BAIC Motor announced its plan to float on the Hong Kong bourse later this year, domestic carmaker JAC Motors said it is also seeking a group listing.

On Tuesday, JAC's listed arm, the Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co, announced on the Shanghai Stock Exchange that the entire group is planning a group listing. Shares in Anhui Jianghuai and Anhui Ankai Automobile Co, another listed subsidiary of JAC, have halted trading.

Analysts said that the potential listing could gain JAC Motors much-needed funds to further develop its passenger cars business.

The company's expertise mainly lies in the production of commercial vehicles. "But it is unlikely JAC will reach its sales target with merely the sales of commercial vehicles," Zhang Yu, managing director at consultancy Automotive Foresight (Shanghai) Co, told the Global Times.

Zhang further noted that the potential IPO could bring the company opportunities to improve its management.

In 2013, the company sold 495,700 units of cars, up 6.59 percent year-on-year. Sedan sales were only 115,388 units, down 16.5 percent year-on-year. JAC has set a sales target of 700,000 units in 2015.

The company said in a media event ahead of the Beijing auto show that it is about to lower the price of its major passenger car models to boost sales. For example, the price of the company's M5 MPV will be lowered by as much as 40,000 yuan ($6428).

Wu Shuocheng, editor-in-chief at industry portal auto.gasgoo.com, said that China's homegrown auto brands have been suffering amid increasing competition from joint venture automakers.

"JAC is only an obvious example," Wu said, noting that unlike most other domestic carmakers, JAC does not have a joint venture to boost profits.

Global Times