Auto sales in China, the world's biggest car market and crucial to worldwide manufacturers, grew at a faster rate in August, data from an industry group showed Friday.

Sales reached 2.07 million units in August, up 24.2 percent year-on-year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said.

Both growth and total sales surpassed July, when vehicles sales rose 23 percent to 1.85 million units.

Auto sales growth has accelerated for the last four months in China as the economy shows signs of stabilising.

An official measure of manufacturing activity rebounded to its strongest level in nearly two years last month while China's producer prices fell at their slowest rate for more than four years.

Sales of passenger cars with engines smaller than 1.6 litres, which accounts for more than 70 percent of total auto sales, jumped 40.7 percent to 1.29 million, CAAM data showed.

The government slashed the purchase tax on passenger cars with small engines last October.

Some foreign manufacturers saw their Chinese sales surge last month, with US auto giant General Motors selling 293,537 vehicles, up 18 percent year-on-year, and Ford's sales jumping 22 percent to 96,450 units.

azk/slb/mtp

FORD MOTOR

GENERAL MOTORS