China auto sales up 11.2%

Sky News - Auto sales in China, the world's largest car market, increased by 11.2 per cent year-on-year in June, an industry group says.

A total of 1.75 million vehicles were sold nationwide last month, marginally lower than 1.76 million in May, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

In the first half of the year, car sales rose 12.3 per cent year-on-year to 10.78 million, it said.

China's auto sales rose only 4.3 per cent annually to 19.31 million in 2012, hit by limits on vehicle licence plate numbers imposed by some cities to ease traffic congestion and tackle pollution.

China's economic rise has been accompanied by a surge in demand for vehicles, including luxury ones, as the country's increasing wealth gives consumers more money to spend.

China became the world's largest auto market in 2009. Of the more than 19 million vehicles sold last year, 15.5 million were passenger cars.