September sales: China's passenger-car total sales go up 21%

Due to increased demand ahead of a weeklong public holiday and a rebound in sales of Japanese cars, the country’s passenger-car sales rose 21% from a year earlier in September, the fastest growth in the last eight months.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, a semiofficial industry group, sales of passenger cars including sedans, sport-utility-vehicles and minivans totaled 1.59 million units last month—up from 1.31 million a year earlier.

Sales of motor vehicles including both passenger and commercial vehicles grew 20% to 1.94 million units, the association also said.

September is a good month for car sales because consumers tend to increase spending ahead of the weeklong National Day holiday. The government suspended highway tolls for passenger cars and motorcycles during the past holiday, leading to a sharp increase in the number of self-driving travelers, according to the China National Tourism Administration.

The September year-over-year sales gains also reflect weakness in the year-earlier month when China’s territorial spat with Japan took a toll on the world’s No. 1 motor-vehicle market.