Vehicle sales in China, the world’s largest market, picked up speed last month as the mainland economy showed signs of recovery and the decline in sales of Japanese cars, hit hard by a Sino-Japanese territorial dispute, appeared to have slowed.
Wholesale deliveries of passenger cars to dealers rose nearly 9 per cent last month year on year, to 1.46m units, boosting year-to-date growth to just above 7 per cent, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday.
Total vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, rose 8.2 per cent and could exceed 19m for the year, CAAM said. Last year, China sold a total of 18.5m vehicles, compared with 12.8m light vehicles sold in the US.