China March passenger car sales up 63% to 1.26M units

Shanghai, April 9 (Gasgoo.com) China's passenger car sales in March rose 63.2% from a year earlier to 1.26 million units, media reported today, citing the latest official industry data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The March sales of cars, SUVs and MPVs grew from the 942,900 cars sold in February which saw an increase 55.3% year on year, the industry group said today. Sales grew 115.5% in January to 1.32 million cars. That shows the first-quarter sales came to 3,522,900 units, up 76%, the association said.

Government stimulus measures, such as tax cuts for small cars and trade-in subsidies for clean vehicles, have spurred China's auto sales since early last year. China's passenger vehicle sales grew 52.9% to 10.3 million units in 2009, although the growth is expected to slow this year.

Previous data from another industry group, the China Passenger Car Association, said the country's sales of passenger cars rose 40% in February from a year earlier to 840,000 units.

Figures of China's total auto sales in March, including passenger and commercial vehicles, will be released soon. Feb sales rose 46% to 1.21 million units, slower than January when sales more than doubled from a year earlier to more than 1.6 million.