China's passenger car sales shrank fora second month in a row in September, official data showed onFriday, as a slowing economy slammed the brakes on demand inthe world's second-largest vehicle market.



Monthly car sales fell 1.44 percent from a year earlier to552,800 units, according to the China Association of AutomobileManufacturers, the country's official industry association.



The data followed nine-month figures from two major foreignautomakers showing a marked slowdown in growth in China, one ofthe few remaining bright spots for an industry hit particularlyhard by the deepening global credit crisis.



Ford Motor's (F.N: Quote, , Research, ) China sales climbed 7.13 percent inJanuary-September, well below 30 percent growth a year earlier,while Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE: Quote, , Research, ) posted 13.1 percent growth inChina, Hong Kong and Macau, also down from 30 percent a yearago.



Other domestic and foreign automakers such as GeneralMotors (GM.N: Quote, , Research, ) and SAIC Motor (600104.SS: Quote, , Research, ), China's biggestautomaker, have yet to release their nine-month sales figures.



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Analysts and industry experts said few were likely tosustain the robust growth of recent years.



'Market growth started to taper off in the first half andthe trend has extended into the second half,' said Yi Junfeng,an industry analyst with Changjian Securities. 'Some automakersmay hold up a little better than others, but no one is immunewhen the economy slows.'