Honda says March China sales up 72 percent

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Honda Motor (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it sold 72 percent more vehicles in mainland China in March than a year earlier, outperforming 23.55 percent growth in the overall Chinese market.

Honda, Japan's second-biggest car maker, whose models include the Accord, Civic and Odyssey, sold 52,862 cars in China last month, compared with 30,729 a year earlier, it said in a statement.

Sales at its venture with Dongfeng Motor (0489.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), based in the central Chinese province of Hubei, jumped 81.4 percent to 16,382 units in March, it said.

Guangzhou Honda, its joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co, parent of Hong Kong-listed Denway Motors (0203.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), sold 36,480 vehicles in the month, up 68.1 percent.

In the first three months of the year, Honda sold 112,438 vehicles in the country, up 29.1 percent from a year earlier.

(Reporting by Fang Yan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)