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A lack of demand during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday contributed in January to a 26.4% year-on-year decrease in vehicle sales, to 1.39 million units.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says production also tumbled 27.5% to 1.3 million units for the month.
Chinese worked only 17 days in January because of the weeklong Spring Festival and the 3-day New Year holiday.
The government news agency Xinhua reports passenger-car sales fell 23.8% from a year ago to 1.16 million units as production dropped 24.3% to 1.05 million. Commercial-vehicle sales were off 37.2% to 229,200 and output fell 38.4% to 245,900.
The country’s 10 biggest auto makers accounted for 89% of January’s sales with 1.24 million deliveries. SAIC, Dongfeng and FAW were the top three sellers.
Sedan deliveries were off more than 25% to 797,500 units, with SUV sales down 22.7% to 36,500 and multipurpose vehicles off 11.8% to 126,300.
China's biggest auto maker, SAIC, said it delivered 380,350 units in January, an 8.5% decline from like-2011.
CAAM Secretary-General Dong Yang last month forecast China’s 2012 full-year sales would rise between 8% and 10% to more than 20 million units.
Earlier, the China Chamber of Commerce’s automobile branch reported the country’s vehicle exports jumped 49.9% to 849,000 units last year, the highest level seen since the onset of the global financial crisis.
Vehicles were shipped to 190 countries; Russia, Brazil and Iran accounted for most of the export activity.
“China's automobile exports have pulled through a difficult period and are developing sustainably,” Deputy Secretary-General Yang Aiguo is quoted as saying. “China's automobiles will continue to move into the international market.”
Chery says its January exports grew 21.2% year-on-year to 11,823 units. Spokesman Jin Yibo tells Xinhua the strong export shipments helped the auto maker cushion sluggish sales in its home market.
