China bolsters global luxury car market in Sep

Published: 07 Oct 2009 16:38:10 PST

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Oct. 8, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Germany's top three luxury car makers saw sales growth in the Chinese market in contrast to shrinkage in other markets, Dow Jones Newswires reported on Tuesday.

Sales of Volkswagen AG's Audi brand, BMW AG's flagship brand, and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz brand all grew more than 35% in China last month, according to the report.

The luxury car market has been boosted by the Chinese government's auto subsidy program, which the government decided to extend in August, more than the U.S. "cash for clunkers" program.

Previously, a government official said China's auto sales volume for September would exceed 1.25 million units and that full-year auto sales could surpass 13 million units in 2009, China Knowledge reported earlier.

China overtook the U.S. as the world's largest auto market in January this year.