China February car sales up 33 pct on year - group

Published: 06 Mar 2009 01:52:18 PST

SHANGHAI, March 6 - China's passenger car sales in February jumped 33.1 percent from a year earlier, boosted by government incentives which continued to attract buyers into showrooms, an industry group said on Friday.

A total of 607,984 passenger cars were sold last month, up from 456,901 in February 2008, the China Passenger Car Association said on Friday.

Figures from the industry group, usually available ahead of official data provided by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers <CAAM), tend to be more optimistic.

China's car sales in January fell 7.76 percent from a year earlier, data from CAAM showed, but only slipped 0.2 percent according to the passenger car association.

China surpassed the United States as the world's largest auto market in January, some estimates showed, but growth has slowed to single digits last year for the first time in at least 10 years as a slowing economy dented consumer spending.

In a statement, the industry group attributed the unexpected boom in auto sales in February to recent government incentives, including cuts in some road fees and in sales tax for small cars.

Passenger sales are estimated to grow at a more moderate rate of roughly 10 percent in March, it said.