China's Jan passenger car sales down 7.8% y/y

China's passenger car sales in January fell 7.76% from a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday, as the country's economy slowed, but month-on-month sales improved bolstered by the government's policy incentives.

Sales of passenger cars came to 610,600 units last month, up 4.44% from December when 584,600 passenger vehicles were sold, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Tuesday.

Total vehicle sales -- including cars, buses and trucks -- fell 14.35% year-on-year to 735,500 units in that month and was off 0.83 percent month-on-month, it said.

China, the world's fastest growing major auto market, had posted car sales growth above 20% for three years in a row until slowing economic growth began to erode demand last year. Car sales growth slowed to a single-digit rate in 2008 for the first time in at least 10 years.

Below is a breakdown for sales in January.

January sales pct change
Category (on year)
All vehicles 735,500 -14.35
Passenger cars 610,600 - 7.76

January sales*
Car maker
-SAIC-GM-Wuling 69,815
-Shanghai Volkswagen 40,642
-FAW Volkswagen 38,771
-*Chongqing Changan 38,079
-Beijing Hyundai 35,183

* No percentage comparisons were provided.
* Chongqing Changan Automobile Co's 000625.SZ January sales excludes the sales of its affiliates, including its car venture with Ford Motor (F.N) and Mazda Motor (7261.T).
Note: SAIC-GM-Wuling is a joint venture between General Motors Corp (GM.N) and SAIC Motor Corp (600104.SS), China's largest car maker and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile.

Shanghai Volkswagen is a joint venture between Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE) and SAIC, while FAW Volkswagen is the German automaker's tie-up with FAW Group.

Chongqing Changan Automobile is a mid-sized Chinese automaker.

Beijing Hyundai is a car venture between Beijing Automotive Industry Holding and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS).