China Posts Strong Sales in September

Sales of locally built vehicles soared 77.9% from year-ago in China in September, reaching 1.33 million units.

The performance marked a 17.0% gain on August, as domestic sales exceeded 1 million units for the seventh month in a row, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says.

The September gain was driven by an 83.6% increase in car sales to 1.0151 million units, CAAM says.

The result left China’s 9-month sales up 34.2% at 9.66 million units, with car sales up 41.9% to 7.24 million.

Government news agency Xinhua says CAAM is crediting the surge in sales to the government's policies to stimulate automobile sales, including a cut in the purchase tax on passenger vehicles with engine displacement of less than 1.6L.