The expansion of the Chinese market in 2009 was simply wild but it appears to have mellowed this year. China’s passenger car sales in June increased by 19.4% from a year earlier, the slowest gain in 14 months. Executives and analysts said that the outlook in the second half will be challenging for industry players since the comparison base is much higher due to brisk sales growth a year ago and with the possibility that labor disputes will persist. A senior executive at Dongfeng Motor Group Co., a major state auto group, said that growth is expected to still be strong in the first few months.
