China auto sales rise 9 percent in March

China's passenger vehicle sales rose 9 percent year-on-year in March, driven by delayed new model launches ahead of the Beijing auto show and a rush to buy before curbs were introduced by the Hangzhou government.

There were 1,588,792 cars, sport-utility or multi-purpose vehicles and minivans sold in March, figures from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Tuesday. Sales in the first three months of 2014 increased 9.5 percent to 4.6 million vehicles, despite a weak February owing to the weeklong Spring Festival holiday.

"Passenger vehicle sales dropped a bit in the first week of March," said Rao Da, the association's secretary-general. They "gradually picked up until the boom in the final week when the Hangzhou government announced the purchase restrictions for new vehicles in the city".