China Jan-Feb vehicle output down 1.7% y/y

China's vehicle output in January and February combined fell 1.7 percent from a year earlier to 1.53 million units, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Tuesday.

But it said sales and output of vehicles in February exceeded 800,000. This put an end to a string of monthly figures of less than 800,000 going back to July 2008, the ministry said.

Sales of passenger cars with engines of 1.6 litres or below increased 18.8 percent in January/February from a year earlier.

That was 13 percentage points higher than the average growth rate of the overall market, the ministry said in a statement issued ahead of a news conference.