TABLE-China Jan car sales up 20 pct yr/yr, growth slows

SHANGHAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Vehicle sales growth in China,
the world's second-largest auto market, slowed to 20 percent
year-on-year in January compared with growth in the same month of
2007, as fierce winter weather disrupted production.

Several automakers have said, however, that the impact of
snow and ice storms that battered the central and southern part
of the country last month would be short-lived as lost production
hours could easily be made up with weekend shifts.

Car sales last month totalled 661,900 units, up 19.80 percent
from a year earlier, compared with 31.03 percent growth in
January of 2007, according to official data from the China
Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Vehicle sales, including cars, buses and trucks, came to
859,400 units in January, up 19.83 percent, the country's
official industry association said on Thursday. That was also
much slower than a 34.27 percent increase in the same month of
last year.

Car sales grew 21.68 percent to 6.30 million units in 2007,
following a 30.02 percent rise in 2006 and a 21.4 percent rise in
2005.

Below is a breakdown for sales in January.

JANUARY sales pct change

Category (on year)

Cars 661,900 19.80

All vehicles 859,400 19.83

JANUARY sales*

Car Maker

-FAW Volkswagen 65,709

-SAIC-GM-Wuling 59,239

-Shanghai Volkswagen 45,969

-Shanghai GM 44,122

-Chery 34,771

* No percentage comparisons provided.

Note: Shanghai GM is a joint venture between General Motors
Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and SAIC Motor Corp (600104.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), China's largest car
maker. SAIC-GM-Wuling is a tie-up among SAIC, GM and Liuzhou
Wuling Automobile.

Shanghai Volkswagen is a joint venture between Volkswagen AG
(VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and SAIC, while FAW Volkswagen is the German auto
maker's tie-up with FAW Group.

Chery Automobile is a home-grown manufacturer. It has agreed
to set up a car venture with Fiat SpA (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
(Reporting by Fang Yan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)