In this file photo, workers handle parts in an auto factory in Qingdao, in eastern China's Shandong province. – AP pic
That compared with a year-on-year rise of 4.6 per cent in December 2011 to 1.37 million cars, CAAM data showed.
China’s once-booming car market cooled to a 5.2 per cent annual gain last year, after jumping 33 per cent and 53 per cent respectively in 2010 and 2009.
The slowdown has been attributed to a raft of factors, from the end of tax incentives for small cars to local authorities’ initiatives aimed at easing ever-worsening traffic congestion in major cities, such as Beijing. — Reuters
