German automakers continue to top sedan market

German automakers topped the domestic sedan market for the third consecutive month with a 27.92 percent share in August, while the share of Japanese automakers saw a further drop last month, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufactures (CAAM) released Tuesday.

German carmakers sold a total of 251,000 sedans in the Chinese market in August, up 12.75 percent year-on-year, CAAM said.

The share of Japanese firms in August dropped to 16.76 percent in the sedan market, compared with 20 percent during the same period last year. Japanese automakers sold 150,700 units of cars in August.

Sales of Japanese automakers have remained sluggish after Japan announced plans to "nationalize" the Diaoyu Islands in September 2012, which has led to strong anti-Japan sentiment among Chinese consumers.

Yao Jie, a deputy secretary-general at the CAAM, noted that if the Japanese government does not alter its current political stance on the Diaoyu Islands and other political issues, development of Japanese companies will be further curtailed in China.

Homegrown auto brands, which used to occupy the top position before June in the sedan market, reported sales of 224,100 units in August, up 10.57 percent year-on-year.

In the first eight months this year, homegrown auto brands still account for the largest share in the sedan market, with 26.85 percent share and 2.04 million units sold in China.

In August, China sold 1.65 million units of cars, up 10.28 percent year-on-year.

China's auto sales have seen month-on-month declines in the previous months, which the CAAM said was mainly due to seasonal factors, but it expected sales to rebound in September and October.

Exports of passenger vehicles including SUVs have dropped 33.9 percent year-on-year in July.

Shi Jianhua, another deputy secretary-general at CAAM, said that the negative growth in exports is partly due to the sluggish world economy and yuan appreciation.