The passenger car sales in China fell 10.28 percent to 522,800 units in November from a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Friday.

The slump ended a short-lived rebound in October. The sales grew 8.37 percent annually last month, following two-month annual contraction in September and August.

The figure also represented a 2.9 percent decline month-on-month. A weak consumer confidence in a slowing economy and the plunge in asset prices have hit vehicles sales, said analysts.

The annual economic growth pace could slow to closer to 7 percent in the fourth quarter, down from 9 percent in the previous quarter, Merrill Lynch said early the week.

In addition, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was 67 percent off its all time high in mid October last year, wiping out huge amounts of investors' wealth.

The November figure for sedan sales was 389,600 units, down 10.94 from a year ago. Multi-purpose vehicles saw sales down 29.94 percent annually to 14,400 units and sport-utility vehicles sales down 3.62 percent to 35,000 units.

The passenger car sales from January to November were 6.16 million units, up 8.87 percent from the previous year. Faw Volkswagen, Shanghai Volkswagen, and Shanghai General Motors were the top three sellers.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2008)