Chinese passenger automobile sales in March exceed 1.2m units

A total of 1.27 million passenger vehicles were sold in China in March, Caijing reported on April 11, citing recently released statistics from the China Passenger Car Association. The amount is 2.6 percent than how many were sold last March. Over the first three months of the year, passenger vehicles sales totaled 3.53 million units, also growing slightly from the same period last year.

Sales of sedans, minivans and SUVs in March grew 4.1 percent from the previous year, finishing at 1.04 million units. Microvan sales, meanwhile, continued to fall, with only 230,000 units sold in the month and 610,000 in the entire first quarter.

In the production side of things, a total of 1.44 million passenger automobiles were manufactured in March, increasing 5.3 percent from the previous year. Inventories continued to rise, already surpassing last year's record month of November. Dealerships will be under greater pressure to make sales in the coming months.

According to CPCA General Secretary Rao Da, the sales figures are evidence that the automotive industry in China is beginning to recover after a slow start earlier in the year. However, the CPCA expects sales in April to fall from the previous month due to its relatively short number of work days