Car sales may hit 21.5m units in 2013

China's passenger vehicle sales maintained a stable growth trend in August, making it possible that the country's overall automobile sales will reach 21.5 million units this year, analysts said.

In August, the total sales of cars, multi-purpose vehicles, sport utility vehicles and minivans in China increased 13.3 percent year-on-year to about 1.32 million units, the China Passenger Car Association said on Thursday.

"The figure should be higher but the floods in the south and the super high temperatures in central China hit market demand," said Rao Da, secretary-general of the association.