Sales of passenger cars in China rose 5.1 percent from a year earlier to 900,000 units in August, the China Passenger Car Association said Wednesday.

The amount represented a 7.2-percent increase from July, the association said. Passenger cars include sedans, MPVs and SUVs.

In the first eight months, passenger car sales totaled 7.23 million units, up 8.7 percent year-on-year, the agency said.

Rao Da, secretary general of the association, said vehicles sales were below expectations at the beginning of the month, but picked up because of sufficient supplies and promotions.

He expects sales growth will shrink in September.