Total vehicle sales in China rose by 0.2% to 2.52m units in January, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) this week. 

This contrasts sharply with earlier reports in China of data released by the China Passenger Car Association showing passenger vehicle sales declining by 9.5% to 2.12m units last month.

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The CAAM data, which also includes commercial vehicles, shows a slight sales increase last month – with market activity held back mainly by fewer working days due to the lunar new year holidays.

The growth slowdown also reflects an increase in the sales tax on cars with engines up to 1.6-litres to 7.5% in January, from the discounted 5.0% rate that had been in place since October 2015. Vehicles with engines above 1.6-litres still incur the normal sales tax of 10%.

The small car tax discount helped drive overall vehicle sales by close to 14% to a new record high of over 28m units last year. The government is expected to withdraw the tax discount altogether at the end of this year, with the rate set to return to 10% in January 2018.

GM said sales at its local joint ventures fell by 24% to 321,264 units last month, while the equivalent Ford sales plummeted by 32% to 88,432 units – including a 41% drop to 66,163 units at its Changan Ford passenger vehicle joint venture.

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Toyota reported an almost 19% drop in sales to 101,800 units in Janaury, while Nissan reported a decline of 6.2% to 119,411 units. Honda's sales were 5.3% higher at 113,044 units, however.

China's FAW reported a 14% sales rise to a record 323,000 vehicles last month, including a 130% jump in sales of its in-house Jiefeng brand to 29,000 units, while FAW-Volkswagen sales rose by 15.5% to 147,000 units, FAW-Toyota 55,000 units (+4.6%); and FAW-Mazda 12,000 units (+4.6%).