China Auto Sales Slow

SHANGHAI (AP) -- China's passenger car sales slowed in January as tax breaks for energy-efficient cars lapsed and cities began tightening curbs on vehicle use to help combat traffic congestion and smog, according to a report Monday.

The Shanghai-based China Passenger Car Association reported that sales of passenger cars fell 10.3 percent in January from the month before to 965,238. On an annual basis, sales rose 12.6 percent.

Chinese bought 13.7 million passenger vehicles last year, up by a third from 2009. But that robust growth is forecast to cool this year due to the expiration of tax incentives for some vehicle purchases and a renewed effort by cities to bring traffic under control.

"Of course the withdrawal of financial incentives would impact any country's auto market, and sales did continue to grow in January, but toward the end of the month there was a sharp cooling in sales," the Passenger Car Association report said.


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