China passenger car sales up 18% in August

Sales of passenger cars in China — the world's biggest market — rose 18 percent in August from a year earlier, a report said Tuesday, as government subsidies and price cuts by dealers helped spur demand.

Passenger car sales totaled 1.02 million vehicles in August, said the Shanghai-based China Passenger Car Association, a private research group.

The figures dovetail with those released earlier by a government-affiliated research institute showing sales of all vehicles rose nearly 56 percent in August from a year earlier, to 1.21 million vehicles. That contrasted with a 5 percent decline in August sales in the U.S., according to AutoData Corp.

China's roaring growth in auto sales has slowed in recent months after surging over 60 percent in March: August's 18 percent increase compares with a 16 percent year-on-year increase in July and a 21 percent increase in June, according to the association's figures.