China's homegrown car brands led an October sales increase in passenger vehicles as increasing capacity helped to satisfy market demand in the competition against foreign joint ventures.

China's passenger vehicle sales, including cars, multi-purpose vehicles, sport utility vehicles and mini-cars, rose 27 percent to 403,906 units for October from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The monthly sales were 7.9 percent lower than in September as there were fewer selling days because of the National Day holiday. Sales over the first 10 months amounted to 3.89 million units, an increase of 26 percent from the same period last year, the association said.

Domestic carmakers, including Geely Automobile Corp, Great Wall Automobile Co Ltd and BYD Automobile Corp, posted sales increases from September to October while those of joint-venture foreign car manufacturers declined. Great Wall Automobile Co Ltd, the nation's largest SUV and pickup maker, sold 3,682 models last month, 105 units more than in September, the company. Most foreign carmakers, including General Motors Corp, Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Corp, experienced an average sales drop of 20 percent from September, the association said.

The domestic-branded models have become the new driving force for the market as their production capacity has been climbing. Although the total market share of homegrown brands increased from 25 percent in August to 29 percent last month, their overall sales still lag the joint ventures of overseas rivals.

Shanghai General Motors Corp ranked first in car sales in October with 30,108 units, posted nearly a 20 percent slump from September figures. FAW Volkswagen came in second with 29,000 units sold last month, an eight percent decline from the previous month, followed by Shanghai Volkswagen with sales of 27,000 units, a 15 percent drop from a month earlier.

Source:佚名