By Jake Spring and Norihiko Shirouzu
BEIJING, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co Ltd's China sales fell 13.9 percent in July from a year earlier, signalling a deepening slowdown in the world's largest car market where a weakening economy and stock price crash are bringing down sales.
The decline is Nissan's steepest since the Japanese automaker switched to reporting retail data in May. Sales rose 0.1 percent in both May and June.
Nissan said on Wednesday it sold 84,200 vehicles in July, attributing the fall to sluggishness in the light commercial vehicle segment and competition in passenger cars.
Analysts and industry insiders are concerned that overall auto sales in China will contract for a fourth month in July after a stock crash further dampened buyer sentiment.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers releases industry-wide data next week. In July, the body more than halved its 2015 sales forecast to 3 percent in part because of the stock crash's impact on sentiment.
Nissan also said sales are up 2.8 percent for January-July, and that it is on track to hit an annual goal of 1.3 million vehicles with three new models to be released later this year.
"We hope to survive the summer and are looking to revive our sales in the autumn," a China-based Nissan sales official said.
Vice President Jun Seki said at Nissan's earnings briefing last week that the China market outlook is not bright and that Nissan "can't let our guard down." (Reporting by Jake Spring and Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Christopher Cushing)