Chery sales in Aug up 97% to 40,000 units

Chery Automobile Co., China's largest independent automaker by sales, reported Wednesday sales in August jumped 97% from a year earlier, according to a media report.

The Anhui Province-based automaker sold 40,000 vehicles during the month, with sales in the eight months through August rising 18% to 286,147 units, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report which cited comments by spokesman Jin Yibo.

In spite of upbeat domestic sales, shipments overseas were down 80% during the eight-month period from a year earlier.