China Feb passenger car sales grow 33% y/y

Shanghai, March 9 (Gasgoo.com) China's passenger car sales in February grew 33% year-on-year, boosted by government incentives including lower purchase tax for small cars, an industry group said on Friday, according to Reuters.

A total of 607,984 passenger cars were sold last month, up from 456,901 in February 2008, data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed.

The association attributed the unexpected boom in February car sales to the government's industry stimulus policies including cuts in some road fees and in purchase tax for small cars with engines less than 1.6 liters.

China's January car sales fell 0.2 percent from a year ago to 647,594 vehicles, said CPCA. But official dada published by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said sales of passenger cars in January fell 7.76% to 610,600 units.

Passenger car sales are estimated to grow at a more moderate rate of roughly 10 percent in March, according to CPCA.