SHANGHAI (AP) -- China's sales of domestically made vehicles surged 25 percent in February from a year earlier, as customers took advantage of a tax cut for small cars, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday, citing industry figures.
February's sales totaled 827,600 units, up 12 percent from the 735,000 sold in January, Xinhua said, citing figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Production in February totalled 807,900 units, up about 23 percent from the year before, it said.
Calls to the association's Beijing headquarters rang unanswered Tuesday.
"Passenger autos with engines under 1.6 liters accounted for 70 percent of the passenger vehicle market, so the bounce of small-engine cars played a critical role in the revival," the report cited Zhu Yiping, the group's assistant secretary general, as saying.
China is the world's second biggest auto market, though sales declined in recent months after several years of torrid growth. The country's monthly auto sales overtook the U.S. in January for the first time, as U.S. sales plunged.
Authorities have implemented tax cuts and subsidies for small-car purchases to lure car buyers back into showrooms.
