SAIC Motor Accelerates Growth with 41% Surge in August Sales, Driven by Self-Owned Brands, NEVs, and Overseas Markets
Chinese automotive giant SAIC Motor has reported another strong performance in August 2025, cementing its position as one of the country’s most competitive carmakers. The company delivered 363,000 vehicles in August, marking a robust 41 percent year-on-year increase and a 7.7 percent rise from the previous month. This result also represented the company’s eighth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, underscoring the momentum SAIC Motor has built across its diversified portfolio.
Cumulative Growth for 2025
Between January and August, SAIC Motor’s cumulative wholesale deliveries hit 2.753 million units, an impressive 17.9 percent year-on-year increase. On the retail front, sales to end customers reached 2.943 million vehicles, reflecting a 5.2 percent gain compared to the same period in 2024. This performance highlights the company’s success in optimizing production, strengthening sales channels, and fine-tuning its inventory strategy to better align with consumer demand.
Company executives attribute this growth to what they call the firm’s “three engines of growth”: the steady rise of self-owned brands, the expanding lineup of new energy vehicles (NEVs), and the growing demand in overseas markets.
Self-Owned Brands Continue to Lead
SAIC’s self-owned brands remained at the core of its growth trajectory. In August alone, these brands sold 232,000 units, representing a 49.5 percent year-on-year surge. From January to August, cumulative self-owned brand sales totaled 1.75 million vehicles, up 26.3 percent year-on-year. These numbers meant that self-owned models accounted for 63.6 percent of SAIC’s overall sales, an increase of nearly 10 percentage points compared to last year.
The company’s subsidiaries also contributed significantly. SAIC Motor Passenger Car Company sold 75,000 units in August, a massive 78.5 percent increase year-on-year, with its domestic market sales skyrocketing by 561.5 percent. SAIC-GM-Wuling, another key contributor, delivered 125,000 units, up 49.1 percent year-on-year.
The momentum has been further supported by strong pre-sales for newly launched models. In August, IM LS6 and MG4 garnered more than 50,000 and 45,000 orders respectively. The Shangjie H5 model reached 50,000 orders within just 18 hours of launch, signaling overwhelming consumer demand. The new Roewe M7 DMH also entered pre-sales with positive reception. These developments highlight how SAIC’s innovation pipeline is strengthening brand identity and creating a competitive edge in both domestic and overseas markets.
NEVs See Rapid Expansion
The new energy vehicle segment continues to be a bright spot for SAIC. In August, NEV sales reached 130,000 units, a 49.9 percent year-on-year increase and a 10.7 percent month-on-month gain. For the first eight months of 2025, cumulative NEV sales totaled 893,000 units, representing a 44.4 percent surge year-on-year.
Breaking down performance by brands, IM Motors sold nearly 6,600 vehicles, up 42.9 percent year-on-year. The IM L6 sedan stood out, ranking among the top three best-selling mid-to-large pure electric sedans in China priced above 200,000 yuan ($27,997).
Other subsidiaries also posted impressive NEV results:
- SAIC Motor Passenger Car Company delivered 22,000 NEVs, marking a 208.6 percent year-on-year jump.
- Maxus sold over 4,600 NEVs, up 25.1 percent.
- SAIC-GM delivered more than 10,000 NEVs, a strong 87.5 percent rise.
- SAIC-GM-Wuling, a major player in the compact EV market, contributed 74,000 NEVs, a 52.8 percent increase year-on-year.
These figures underscore SAIC’s strong commitment to electrification and its ability to compete in one of the world’s most crowded and fast-changing EV markets.
Overseas Expansion Maintains Steady Momentum
SAIC Motor has also been making headway overseas, a critical growth frontier for the company. In August, overseas sales reached 88,000 units, representing a 10.5 percent increase year-on-year. Between January and August, cumulative exports and overseas sales totaled 664,000 vehicles, up 2.3 percent year-on-year.
The company’s MG brand continues to be a standout performer in Europe, where it sold 200,000 units in the first eight months, a 20 percent year-on-year rise. This has positioned MG as the top-selling Chinese automotive brand in European markets.
Specific country-level results further illustrate SAIC’s growing footprint:
- In Norway, MG ranked among the top five brands in July.
- In Spain, cumulative MG sales surpassed 29,000 units in the first seven months, up 60 percent year-on-year.
- In the Czech Republic, MG sales expanded by 24 percent over the same period.
SAIC Motor’s August performance demonstrates the company’s ability to sustain growth across multiple fronts. By leveraging strong domestic demand for its self-owned brands, maintaining rapid NEV adoption, and expanding its international reach, the automaker has positioned itself well for the remainder of 2025.
The continued success of new model launches, along with strong export performance, suggests that SAIC is not just keeping pace with the global automotive industry’s transformation but actively shaping it. If the current trajectory holds, SAIC Motor could close 2025 with record-breaking sales, further solidifying its role as a leader in both China’s domestic market and the international stage.
