SAIC Sept auto sales up 23% to 324,831 units

Top Chinese automaker SAIC Motor Corp (600104.SS) sold 23.3 percent more vehicles in September than a year earlier, bouncing back mildly from the summer months as the peak auto sales season settled in.

SAIC, which runs vehicle manufacturing ventures with General Motors GM.UL and Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), sold 324,831 vehicles last month, it said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday.

That marks an improvement from August when it sold 286,814 vehicles, up 22.2 percent, its slowest year-on-year monthly gain this year, company data showed.

SAIC's state-owned rival Dongfeng Motor (0489.HK) sold 180,162 vehicles in September, up 22.3 percent from a year ago. Dongfeng makes cars in tie-ups with Honda Motor (7267.T), Nissan Motor (7201.T) and PSA Peugeot-Citroen (PEUP.PA) in China.

"I am optimistic for October and the rest of the year as people who plan to buy cars might do it this year rather than wait till 2011. No one knows whether the tax incentives for small cars will still be there next year," said Sheng Ye, associate research director at industry consultancy Ipsos' Greater China region.

Beijing's policy initiatives, effective from the beginning of 2009, also include subsidies for vehicle buyers in rural areas.

China, which overtook the United States as the world's largest auto market last year, has been a major bright spot as the global industry struggles to recover from a steep downturn.

But the market has been slowing since May as Beijing took measures to keep the economy from overheating.

Industry observers expect the recent upturn in demand to extend into October and even into the winter months as many people would rush to buy cars, worrying that Beijing may scale back or even scrap its policy incentives in 2011.

Even though automakers, including SAIC, are unlikely to repeat the frantic pace of expansion seen in the fourth quarter of 2009 due to a much higher comparative base, analysts expect year-on-year growth for each of the remaining months of 2010.

In September, SAIC's car venture with General Motors GM.UL sold 100,825 units, up 41 percent from a year earlier. Sales at its tie-up with Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) went 36 percent to 95,869 units, the data showed.

Sales at SAIC-GM-Wuling, a domestic leader in mini vehicle segment, were flat at 101,290 units, versus 101,000 units a year earlier, it added.