Growth in both production and sales of motor vehicles on the Chinese mainland slowed to a single-digit rate in the first 11 months of this year, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Thursday.

This was the first time the growth rates fell below 10 percent since 2006.

Between January and November, China produced 8.70 million motor vehicles, up 7.98 percent on the same period of last year, and sold 8.63 million, up 8.52 percent. The growth rates were 14.27 percentage points and 14.67 percentage points, respectively, lower than last year's level.

Zhao Chenxi, an auto industry analyst with the Haitong Securities, attributed the slowdown to the decreased income of potential auto buyers during sluggish capital and real estate markets and to roller-coaster oil prices worldwide.

Of the total output and sales, 6.24 million passenger vehicles were produced, up 8.38 percent, and 6.16 million were sold, up 8.87 percent.

In November alone, auto output stood at 686,000 units, down 2.68 percent from a month earlier, or 18.14 percent from a year ago. Sales were 685,100 units, down 4.26 percent from October, or 14.56 percent from last year.

Yao Hongguang, a senior auto industry- analyst with United Securities, estimated market-boosting policies would be considered following discussions during the annual Central Economic Work Conference, which concluded on Wednesday.

"The Chinese market for passenger vehicles is far from being saturated. It will continue to grow in the long run," said Ye Sheng, another senior auto-industry analyst based in Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2008)