Shanghai (ZXZC)- GAC Group saw its monthly auto sales edge up 2.71% over the previous year to 243,599 units in Sept. 2023, according to the sales results it issued this week. For the first three quarters of this year, the Guangzhou-based auto group sold a total of 1,794,264 vehicles, representing a 1.69% year-on-year decrease.

Notably, the group's new energy vehicle (NEV) business demonstrated a robust performance in both monthly and year-to-date sales. In Sept. alone, its NEV sales surged 70.36% from a year earlier to 57,973 units, resulting in a Jan.-Sept. volume of 393,912 units, which zoomed up 92.27% from the year-ago period.

AION S Plus; photo credit: GAC AION

Of the NEVs sold last month, 51,596 units of sales were contributed by GAC AION, the group's NEV-dedicated subsidiary, reflecting a 71.89% soar year-on-year. The sales of the two major sales contributors, the AION Y and the AION S, came in at 27,496 units and 21,546 units, respectively.

The year-on-year decline in the group's Sept. sales mainly flowed from the downturn that confronted the two Sino-Japanese joint ventures. To be specific, GAC Honda's sales slid 11.01% over the previous year to 61,442 units last month, while GAC Toyota faced a 3.75% year-on-year drop with 92,400 vehicles sold. Both of them posted a two-digit decline in their Q1-Q3 sales.

In addition, GAC Motor, the wholly-owned passenger vehicle maker of GAC Group, sold 37,286 vehicles in Sept., which climbed up 11.32% over the prior-year period. Its Jan.-Sept. sales also rose 10.69% year over year to 295,954 units.

As for the performance of main products, GAC Group said it had nine models whose respective Sept. sales all exceeded 10,000 units, namely, the AION Y (27,496 units), the Camry series (23,340 units), the Frontlander series (22,628 units), the AION S (21,546 units), the Accord series (15,338 units), the Wildlander series (14,625 units), the Breeze series (14,622 units), the Integra series (14,241 units), and the Levin series (10,930 units). Besides, the group also reported a Sept. sales volume of 9,308 units for the Trumpchi M8.