China's Dongfeng May vehicle sales rise 33 pct

SHANGHAI, June 5 (Reuters) - Dongfeng Motor Group Co (0489.HK) said on Thursday its vehicle sales rose 33.45 percent in May from a year earlier.

Dongfeng, China's third-largest automaker, sold 102,348 vehicles in May, up from 76,693 a year earlier, it said in a statement.

Sales of passenger cars grew 21.49 percent to 59,479 units last month, while sales of commercial vehicles jumped 54.56 percent to 42,869 units, it said.

For the first five months of the year, its vehicle sales rose 28.17 percent to 485,930 units. Passenger car sales rose 22.48 percent to 301,954 units, while sales of commercial vehicles climbed 38.73 percent to 183,976 units.

Dongfeng's venture with PSA Peugeot-Citroen (PEUP.PA) sold 87,125 cars in the first five months, up 0.04 percent, it said.

Sales at Dongfeng's tie-up with Honda Motor (7267.T) surged 62.75 percent during the period to 69,996 units, it said.

At its venture with Nissan Motor (7201.T), Dongfeng Motor Co Ltd (DFL), car sales grew 31.4 percent to 324,067 units in the first five months.

DFL said late last month that it aimed to launch at least 15 new models before 2012, boosting its annual sales in that year to 1 million vehicles, up from 610,000 in 2007. (Reporting by Fang Yan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)