CHICAGO - General Motors Co (GM) announced on its website Monday that GM and its joint ventures in China delivered more than 623,500 vehicles in China in the third quarter of this year, down 19 percent from the 771,400 sales a year ago.

The Detroit automaker attributes the decline to global semiconductor shortage.

But despite the challenging environment, midsize and large SUVs of GM maintained robust growth momentum, and sales of new energy vehicles across brands also posted a strong performance.

GM said it continued to promote its global vision of a future of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion in China. Presales of the first Ultium-powered model for the Chinese market, the Cadillac LYRIQ all-electric luxury SUV, will start later this year.

GM recently announced it will invest $300 million in Momenta, a leading autonomous driving technology company in China, to accelerate the development of next-generation self-driving technologies tailored for Chinese consumers.

Early this month, GM announced that its US sales dropped 33 percent year-over-year in the third quarter, when it sold only 446,997 vehicles, down from 665,192 sold in the same period of last year.