Holiday doesn't dent car sales

Their combined sales increased merely 5.4 percent, accounting for about 38.4 percent of total passenger vehicle sales.

In the first two months, the sales of Chinese-brand vehicles dipped just 1 percent from a year earlier. The market share dropped 4.8 percentage points on an annual basis.

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However, German, Japanese and US automakers' sales in China all saw more than 20 percent year-on-year growth in the first two months, according to the industry association.

US automaker General Motors Co and its joint ventures sold 257,770 vehicles in China during February, setting a new record for the month. Sales increased 20 percent from 215,070 vehicles sold in the same month last year.

With all-time monthly record sales in January, GM's sales in the mainland market during the first two months totaled 605,831, an increase of 15.2 percent from the year-earlier period and also a new record.

GM's new Chief Executive Officer Mary Bora said that by 2016, the company and its Chinese partners will invest a total of $11 billion in China in products, production capacity and talent.

To support the sales momentum, GM will release 19 all-new designed or redesigned models this year.

Ford Motor Co's sales surged 67.4 percent in February to 73,040, making the US company's market performance in the first two months grow 59.2 percent to 167,506.

Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co's sales in February reached 71,900, a 55.6 percent increase from last year, while Toyota Motor Corp reported a year-on-year increase of 43.1 percent to 51,900 vehicles.

German premium carmaker Mercedes-Benz saw its sales surge 73.6 percent to 17,596, a record high in February.

Rival Audi delivered 32,358 vehicles in its largest market in February, up only 6.9 percent from last year.

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