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'08 auto sales record slowest growth since 1999

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-12 15:09

BEIJING -- Auto sales in China rose 6.7 percent in 2008 from a year earlier, the first non-double digit growth since 1999, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Monday.

A model poses by a Chery A3 sedan made by the independent Chinese manufacturer Chery at an auto show in Changsha, China, Friday, Dec. 12, 2008. Auto sales in China rose 6.7 percent in 2008 from a year earlier, the first non-double digit growth for China's auto sales since 1999. [Agencies]

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The growth rate was compared with an annual increase of 21.84 percent in 2007.

The sales totaled 9.38 million units last year in the world's second largest car market after the United States, the CAAM said.

The country's carmakers rolled out a total of 9.34 million motor vehicles last year, up 5.21 percent compared with 2007.

Both auto sales and production were below the prediction of 10 million units made at the beginning of last year.