BEIJING, March 9 -- China's passenger car sales rose
26.1 percent in February from a year earlier, the fastest pace in four months,
according to the Union of National Passenger Car Market Information yesterday.
However, an auto analyst said the market has shown
signs of cooling after pent-up demand helped to create an exceptional sales
spurt over the past one-and-a-half years.
Sales of cars, multi-purpose vehicles and
sport-utility vehicles in China accelerated to 429,251 units last month, the
Shanghai-based union said in an e-mailed statement.
Production expanded 11.4 percent to 420,288 units
during the same period from a year earlier.
"The high growth was based on last year's relative
low base," said Rao Da, secretary of the union. "But the total market began to
return to a more moderate growth pace due to less demand."
According to the statement, average daily sales
totalled 20,100 units nationwide for the last four days in February, a drop from
20,500 units from the beginning of the month.
China's passenger car sales rose 30 percent to 5.18
million units last year, exceeding the 25 percent increase of the total vehicle
market, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
The official auto association predicted the growth
slow to 20 percent this year.
Dealers from Honda Motor Corp's joint venture and
Toyota offered less price discounts on mainstream models and increased prices of
more popular units to seek higher profit margin.
The price of a Honda Accord sedan rose about 5,000
yuan (646 U.S. dollars) from January while Toyota's Reiz and Crown models also
saw prices surge 2,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan, according to dealers.
Shanghai General Motors Co Ltd was the best seller
last month with retail sales of 32,584 units, followed by Shanghai Volkswagen's
28,528 units and FAW Volkswagen's 26,867 units.
Car makers also stepped up measures such as lowing
prices and adding new models to generate sales as the low season for buying cars
began in March.
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
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