China's 39 major passenger car manufacturers sold 574,300 sedans and multi-purpose vehicles in the first quarter, a 7.69 percent decline year-on-year, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Wednesday.

The association said that the auto market has been sluggish in the first two months. In March, the market began to warm up. These companies sold 256,000 passenger cars in March, a 72.79 percent increase over February.

In the first quarter, ten out of 39 companies sold more than 30,000 vehicles each, including Beijing Hyundai, Guangzhou Honda, Shanghai GM, Tianjin FAW and ChangAn Group. Beijing Hyundai reported a year-on-year sales increase of 160 percent.

Source: Xinhua