Discounts drive pick-up in China car sales

Passenger-vehicle sales in China last month grew at a faster pace for the first time since June as dealerships offered more incentives to meet full-year targets heading into the final quarter.

Retail deliveries of cars, multi-purpose and sport utility vehicles climbed 9.3 per cent to 1.66 million units in October, the Passenger Car Association said.

Sales have slowed in each of the past three months since gaining 14 per cent in June, data published by the group showed.

Dealers typically regard the past two months as the busiest period for car sales, referring to them as "golden September, silver October".

The pick-up in sales helps assuage concern that the world's largest car market is slowing as demand for commercial vehicles slumps in an economy that analysts estimate will expand at the slowest full-year pace since 1990.

"Dealers may increase incentives in the next couple of months to help boost demand," said Song Yang, an analyst with Barclays.