Honda says 2007 China car sales up 31 percent

SHANGHAI Jan 16 (Reuters) - Honda Motor (7267.T), Japan's second-biggest car maker, said on Wednesday it sold 30.6 percent more cars in mainland China in 2007, beating 21.7 percent growth of the entire Chinese market.

Honda, whose models include the Accord, Civic and Odyssey, sold 422,311 cars in China last year, up from 323,468 units in 2006, it said in a statement.

Sales in December came to 43,709 units, up 22.2 percent from a year earlier, it said.

Larger rival Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) sold 499,000 vehicles in the country in 2006, up 62 percent from a year earlier.

In 2006, Guangzhou Honda, the Japanese automaker's joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., parent of Hong Kong-listed Denway Motors 0203.HK, moved 295,299 units, up 13.5 percent.

Sales at its venture with Dongfeng Motor (0489.HK), based in the central Chinese province of Hubei, jumped 100.4 percent to 127,012 units, it said. (Reporting by Fang Yan; Editing by Nick Macfie)