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However, an auto analyst said the market has shown signs of cooling after pent-up demand helped to create an exceptional sales spurt over the past one-and-a-half years.

Sales of cars, multi-purpose vehicles and sport-utility vehicles in China accelerated to 429,251 units last month, the Shanghai-based union said in an e-mailed statement.

Production expanded 11.4 percent to 420,288 units during the same period from a year earlier.

"The high growth was based on last year's relative low base," said Rao Da, secretary of the union. "But the total market began to return to a more moderate growth pace due to less demand."

According to the statement, average daily sales totalled 20,100 units nationwide for the last four days in February, a drop from 20,500 units from the beginning of the month.

China's passenger car sales rose 30 percent to 5.18 million units last year, exceeding the 25 percent increase of the total vehicle market, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The official auto association predicted the growth slow to 20 percent this year.

Dealers from Honda Motor Corp's joint venture and Toyota offered less price discounts on mainstream models and increased prices of more popular units to seek higher profit margin.

The price of a Honda Accord sedan rose about 5,000 yuan (US$646) from January while Toyota's Reiz and Crown models also saw prices surge 2,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan, according to dealers.

Shanghai General Motors Co Ltd was the best seller last month with retail sales of 32,584 units, followed by Shanghai Volkswagen's 28,528 units and FAW Volkswagen's 26,867 units.

Car makers also stepped up measures such as lowing prices and adding new models to generate sales as the low season for buying cars began in March.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)