Today, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said the government has again started subsidizing purchases of fuel-efficient vehicles and its effect could be seen on sales of passenger-vehicle sales in China, as they witnessed a rise in September.

Last month, wholesale deliveries of cars, multipurpose and sport-utility vehicles increased to 1.696 million units. For the first 10 months of 2014, sales increased 10% to 14.2 million. From last month, China's government has restarted subsidies for purchases of fuel-efficient vehicles that consume less than 5.9 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers.

Out of the brands that have received green signal for the 3,000-yuan subsidy, around 60% are local. General Motors Co. considers China as its biggest market. Earlier this month, General Motors revealed that its sales in the country rose 15% in September.

Toyota Motor Corp. stated that its sales increased by 26% to 91,100 vehicles and Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. saw a drop in their sales by 20% and 23% during the month.

In 2013, China stopped providing subsidies for energy-efficient cars to encourage the demand for autos having engines not bigger than 1.6 litres. September US auto sales were majorly supported by retail and not much by fleet volume.

Light-vehicle sales through dealership increased 11% and fleet were just a 3% higher. In September, Toyota Motor Sales' retail volume increased 9% or 12,800 units. But the fleet sales slashed by 10,000 light vehicles, which put the automaker's total September gain was just 2%.

On the other hand, General Motors, Nissan North America and Chrysler Group generated 19% overall sales gains last month. Starting with General Motors, it gained 30% in fleet and 17% in retail; Nissan rose 45% in fleet and 15% in retail and Chrysler Group was 17% higher in fleet and 19% in retail.