China’s Motor Vehicle Sales Grew 10% in May

Wholesale deliveries of passenger and commercial vehicles in China climbed to 1.76 million units last month from 1.60 million units in May 2012, the China Assn. of Automobile Manufacturers reports.

Sales of cars, minivans and SUVs rose 9% to 1.4 million units. May's increase compares to year-over-year gains of 13% in both March and April.

May wholesale volume in China advanced at General Motors (+9% to 252,900 vehicles), Nissan (+2% to 103,000 units), Ford (+45% to 70,500 units), Honda (+5% to 54,600 units) and Audi (+16% to 42,100 units). Volkswagen has not yet reported sales.

Toyota demand was flat at 79,000 vehicles last month. Deliveries by Chinese brands slid 4% to 550,800 units.

In the January-May period of this year, total vehicle sales rose 13% year over year to 9.03 million units. Deliveries of passenger vehicles jumped 15% to about 7.3 million units in that period.

Sales by Japanese brands fell 12% during those five months, according to CAAM. It says demand for European, Korean and U.S. brands grew more than 20%.