January vehicle sales surge 45.4 percent (2)

Even the three Japanese automakers, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, whose sales were seriously hit by Chinese consumers' avoiding Japanese products amid rising anger over Tokyo's illegal "purchase" of China's Diaoyu Islands, all saw their sales rise around 20 percent in January after sharp declines for four months.

Although dealers' inventories dipped slightly for four consecutive months, the fast-increasing sales made the China Automobile Dealers Association declare a red alert over an inventory rebound after Spring Festival.

According to the Vehicle Inventory Alert Index the association released this week, in January, the alert index gained 0.9 percentage points to 45.26 percent, warning dealers to pay attention to a growing inventory.

"As automakers all readjusted their sales targets last year amid a market slowdown, the inventory at dealers was eased at the end of 2012. However, a sharp reduction in sales in February from January due to fewer working days brings the high risk of inventories accumulating after the holiday," said Luo Lei, deputy secretary-general of the association.

According to the association's survey of more than 1,000 automobile dealers covering 50 major vehicle brands across the country, due to the Spring Festival holiday, most dealers expect business to worsen in February.

"Dealers and automakers should take measures to cope with the sharp drop in vehicle demand after the holiday, in a bid to avoid the inventory rebound," said Luo.