China's passenger car sales in June rose 19.4 percent from a year earlier, the slowest gain in 14 months, as the world's biggest auto market lost some steam after frenetic expansion in 2009.

The outlook in the second half is expected to be challenging for industry players as rapid sales growth a year ago makes the base of comparison much higher and labor disputes at auto factories flare up again, executives and analysts said.

"We had expected early on that growth would continue to be strong in the first few months. But it won't be one way and the market might head south in July and August," said a senior executive at Dongfeng Motor Group Co., a major state auto group.

China's car market started to take off in April last year after a dismal 2008, with sales hitting fresh monthly records for the rest of 2009.

The market started to lose some of its steam in the same month this year, when car sales rose merely a third from a year earlier. Car sales in May were up 25.8 percent.

Nevertheless, sales volume stayed above the one million mark in five out of the past six months, suggesting solid demand for cars in a country which is getting increasingly mobile as national wealth grows.

A total of 1.04 million sedans, vans and sport utility vehicles was sold in June, compared with the year-ago level of 872,900, the official China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Friday.

20% sales gain expected for 2010

"Judging from the figures, the market is still holding up pretty well so far. It's just too much a challenge to match 2009's run-away market expansion," said Lin Huaibin, an analyst with IHS Global Insight.

"The growth rate will slow down further in the summer when auto sales have been slack traditionally. The market could pick up again in the autumn, when many people get behind the wheel and travel around with their friends and families."

Analysts expect car sales in China to climb merely 10 percent in the second half, with a full-year gain at a more rational level of 20 percent, after a 52.9 percent surge in 2009.