CHINA'S monthly passenger-vehicle deliveries in January fell the most in over seven years after an earlier-than-usual Lunar New Year holiday season deprived dealers of a week's worth of sales.

Deliveries of passenger automobiles, including multipurpose and sport-utility vehicles, dropped 24 percent from a year earlier to 1.16 million units last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday in a statement. Sales were projected to drop 18 percent, according to the median of a Bloomberg News survey of five analysts who predicted declines ranging from 8.5 percent to 30 percent.

The drop follows a Ministry of Commerce's estimate that holiday sales at main retailers and restaurants rose at their lowest pace since the 2009 financial crisis, adding to signs the world's second-largest economy is slowing. Carmakers from General Motors Co to Ford Motor Co are counting on a rebound this month as they rely on China, the world's biggest auto market, to help drive earnings this year.

"Even though the actual holiday was five working days, some dealerships took the opportunity to close their stores for a longer time," said Ran Fei, an analyst with Great Wall Securities Co in Shenzhen. "The numbers are disappointing."

January's drop was steeper than the previous record set almost seven years ago, when February sales declined 23 percent because the holiday occurred in January the preceding year, according to CAAM data stretching back to 2005. The auto group has forecast deliveries will rise 9.5 percent this year.

The Lunar New Year typically falls in early February.

Consumer demand may be slowing. Holiday retail sales on the Chinese mainland grew 16 percent to 470 billion yuan (US$75 billion), or 3 percentage points below last year's rise, preliminary government data released by the ministry showed.

Growth in total auto sales may accelerate to 8 percent this year after slowing to 2.5 percent in 2011, CAAM said.