In December, car sales fell for the sixth consecutive month, dropping 23.9 percent year-on-year.

Car sales fell to 68,942 units in December from 90,553 a year earlier. Government subsidies to help people buy new cars ran out at the start of July, at the same time as a hike in value-added tax kicked in.

For the full-year car sales rose to 982,015 units from 952,772 a year ago.