China's Dongfeng sales rise 15%

The Wall Street Journal (Shanghai) - Dongfeng Automobile Co., a joint venture between China's Dongfeng Motor and Japan's Nissan Motor Co., said on Tuesday that its October sales rose 15.3% over September's figure.

The Chinese car maker sold 21,460 vehicles in October. Year-on-year, October sales fell 19.3%, the Wuhan-based auto maker said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Sales at joint ventures between Chinese auto makers and Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. have tumbled in China as consumers boycotted Japanese goods after a territorial row between the two countries. But the latest sales figures from Dongfeng Automobile suggest the worst could be over for Japanese car makers.

In the ten months ended Oct. 31, Dongfeng Automobile said its sales totaled 226,920 vehicles, down 14.3% from a year earlier, The company sold 18,608 vehicles in September and 19,381 vehicles in August.