Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.'s deliveries increased 3 percent year on year to 49,903 vehicles in March as the automaker enjoyed strong demand for the Kingkong compact car.

 

Kingkong sales for the month totaled 7,060, up 13 percent from a year earlier.

 

But sales of Geely's top-selling model, the New Emgrand compact sedan, dropped 10 percent to 20,643. Deliveries of its flagship car, the C9 mid-sized sedan, reached 4,339 vehicles. The C9 went on sale in April last year.

 

Late last month, Geely launched the new NL3 crossover. But due to weak demand for its three aging crossovers -- the GX7, SX7 and GX9 -- Geely's combined crossover sales still plunged 28 percent to 4,545.

 

Geely plans to introduce two additional crossovers later this year to replace oldrt models.

 

In the first three months, Geely sold 143,323 vehicles, an increase of 2 percent from the same period last year.

 

Geely is headquartered in the east China city of Hangzhou and listed in Hong Kong. Its parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. also owns Volvo Car Corp.