Analysts agreed China will have to say goodbye to the 20 percent-plus growth rate in recent years, and said their expectation that sales and production this year will break the 10-million-unit barrier cannot be reached. Passenger car sales stood at 6.16 million units in the first 11 months.

Auto experts predicted 8 percent growth in sales this year, with production reaching 9.5 to 9.6 million units, up from 8.88 million units last year. Most automakers in the country are unlikely to complete their sales target set at the beginning of this year.