Associated Press | China’s passenger car sales jumped 63 percent in March from a year earlier as manufacturers scrambled to meet strong demand driven by tax cuts and government subsidies, a state-affiliated industry group reported Friday.

Passenger car sales rose to 1.26 million vehicles in March, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

GM reported earlier that its sales in China jumped 68 percent in March
over a year earlier to a new monthly record of 230,048 vehicles. First
quarter sales surged 71 percent to 623,546 units. Ford said first quarter sales jumped 84 percent to a record
153,362 units, while Toyota’s sales in China rose 33 percent in March.

The figures show sustained growth for automakers in a market that
bounced back from a slowdown in late 2008-2009 as the government pumped
hundreds of billions of dollars into economic stimulus.

Weak sales in the United States and a surge in car purchases by newly
affluent Chinese buyers helped to make this the world’s largest auto
market last year, when total vehicle sales jumped 45 percent over 2008
to 13.6 million units.

The U.S. market is recovering but cannot match growth in China, where
many are still buying their first cars. Demand for bigger cars is
growing as families that bought small cars the first time trade up to
better, larger vehicles.

Sales in the U.S. climbed 24 percent in March compared to the same month
a year earlier, according to figures compiled by AutoData Corp. China’s
auto industry does not release comparable monthly sales data adjusted
for annual rates.

The Chinese industry group said total vehicle sales rose 56 percent in
March from a year earlier to 1.7 million units, bringing sales for the
first three months of the year to 4.6 million.

“Passenger car sales turned out to be even better than earlier market
estimates,” said Rao Da, general secretary of another industry group,
the Shanghai-based China Passenger Car Association, which released
separate data showing similar trends.

“We are confident that China’s vehicle sales will surpass 17 million
units this year, growing by about 25 percent,” he said.

China’s searing growth has buoyed foreign automakers like General Motors
Co. and Toyoto Motor Corp. as they weather languid sales in their
saturated home markets.

China’s domestic automakers, who tend not to release sales data on as
regular a basis, are also generally enjoying strong growth, and running
double shifts to meet demand.

Production of passenger cars rose 72 percent from a year earlier in
March, to 1.3 million units, the CAAM reported. First quarter output
rose 84 percent to 3.5 million units.

It said sales of vehicles with engines of 1.6 liters or less totalled
868,300, accounting for 69 percent of total passenger car sales.

Exports of fully assembled vehicles in March jumped 78 percent from the
year before to 39,500 units, suggesting a recovery in auto exports, it
said.

Chinese automakers slowed production in late 2008 and early 2009 as
global economic woes dragged sales sharply lower. By mid-year, car
factories were struggling to keep up with reviving demand thanks to
government rescue measures and China’s economic recovery.