China's auto industry picks up momentum in Aug

BEIJING -- China's auto industry saw greater momentum in August on the back of stronger sales and output figures, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on Monday.

Auto output in August rose 4.48 percent from July to 1.5 million vehicles, while auto sales climbed 8.4 percent month-on-month to reach 1.49 million units in the month, according to the CAAM data.

On a year-on-year basis, auto output and sales in August increased 7.78 percent and 8.26 percent, respectively.

The August growth lifted the growth in auto output and sales in the first eight months by 0.35 percentage point and 0.56 percentage point, respectively, from the January-July period, according to the CAAM.

During the January-August period, China produced 12.47 million vehicles, up 5.19 percent year-on-year, and it sold 4,400 more units than were produced during the period, up 4.1 percent from previous year.

In a breakdown, sales of passenger vehicles rose 7.98 percent year-on-year to reach 9.95 million units in the January-August period, while production increased 8.73 percent from a year ago to hit 10.01 million units, data show.

However, sales and production of commercial vehicles continued to decline from January to August, down 8.85 percent and 7.15 percent to reach 2.52 million units and 2.46 million units, respectively.