2010-06-08 13:30

SHANGHAI: SAIC Motor, the listed arm of Chinese auto giant Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), said Tuesday its May vehicle sales rose 48.2 percent year-on-year to 289,239 units.

Output in May stood at 292,885, a rise of 46.9 percent from a year earlier, said SAIC Motor in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

But the year-on-year growth figures for output and sales have contracted every month since January.

Sales growth in May was down by 41.8 percentage points from January's 89.8 percent, and the output growth has declined by 43.3 percentage points.

SAIC Motor sold 2.73 million vehicles last year, up 57.2 percent, with market share in China rising 1.4 percentage points to 19.9 percent, according to the company's annual report released in April.

China overtook the United States last year as the world's largest auto market, with sales surging 46.15 percent to 13.64 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers announced in January.

Chinese automakers produced 1.31 million vehicles in May, down 14.36 percent from April, and sales of autos in May fell 13.95 percent from April to 1.19 million units, according to the China Automotive Technology and Research Center.