Dongfeng Motor: emission rule slows July sales

Dongfeng Motor Group Co recently said its vehicle sales growth slowed to a single-digit rate in July as stricter emission standards curbed truck sales, Reuters reported.

The third-largest Chinese automaker sold 71,854 vehicles in July, up 3.37% from a year earlier, with sales of passenger cars rising 18.46% but sales of commercial vehicles down 26.31%.

A Dongfeng executive blamed the weak truck sales of last month on the introduction of Euro III emission standards on July 1, which spurred customers to make purchases before then. The company's vehicle sales in the first seven months rose 24.54% year on year.

Dongfeng Motor Corp. operates car manufacturing ventures with PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Honda Motor. It also makes cars and commercial vehicles with Nissan Motor.

Honda CR-V compact SUV, which was jointly produced with Dongfeng Motor Corp., posted a robust growth in sales, up 55.1% year on year in July and 28.8% during the first seven months.

Nissan and partner Dongfeng Motor announced plans on July 29 to build a new plant in Guangzhou, southern China. The factory will raise their venture's total capacity to 700,000 vehicles a year.

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