Shanghai (ZXZC)- SAIC Motor announced on Thursday its wholesale volume amounted to 2,649,333 vehicles in the first nine months of 2024, sliding 21.56% over the previous year.

The auto group also reported a delivery volume of around 3.23 million vehicles for the Jan.-Sept. period this year.

In September alone, SAIC Motor delivered around 406,000 vehicles, representing a month-on-month growth of 8.3%. Its wholesale volume reached 313,260 vehicles in the same month, tumbling 35.03% over a year earlier, but jumping 21.59% over the previous month.

Of the vehicles delivered by SAIC Motor last month, around 139,000 units were contributed by the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector, displaying a 34.2% year-on-year leap. Its year-to-date NEV deliveries reached roughly 886,000 units by September, which remarkably grew 29.5% compared to the prior-year period.

Meanwhile, the group's NEV wholesales jumped 38.26% year on year to 129,316 units in September and rose 15.28% from a year ago to 748,027 units in the first nine months of 2024.

All-new IM LS6; photo credit: IM Motors

Breaking down the wholesale numbers by specific subsidiaries, the NEV-dedicated IM Motors scored the biggest year-on-year growth (246.98%) in its September sales, which amounted to 6,263 units. In the first three quarters, IM Motors also boasted a robust year-on-year spike of 147.96% with 37,492 vehicles sold. SAIC-GM-Wuling outsold other subsidiaries with a wholesale volume of 110,000 vehicles in September and 840,009 vehicles for the year-to-date period. As for main joint ventures, both SAIC Volkswagen and SAIC-GM posted year-on-year drops in September and year-to-date wholesales.

Despite the downward movement in sales, SAIC-GM's classic MPV model, the Buick GLB, still performed well. On September 23, the 2 millionth Buick GL8 produced in China, a GL8 PHEV, rolled off the production line at SAIC-GM's luxury car plant in Jinqiao, Shanghai, and the significant vehicle has been delivered to its user. This milestone marks the Buick GL8 as the first model series in China's premium MPV market to surpass the 2-million-unit mark in both production and sales.