Toyota says August China auto sales up 8.9 percent year-on-year

BEIJING (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and its two Chinese joint ventures sold about 78,500 vehicles in China in August, up 8.9 percent from a year earlier, the Japanese automaker said on Monday.

That followed a 1.1 percent year-on-year fall in July and a 7.6 percent drop in June. In the first eight months of the year, Japan's biggest automaker by sales volume sold about 619,200 vehicles in China, up 9.7 percent from a year earlier.

Toyota this year aims to sell more than 1.1 million vehicles in China. If accomplished, this would see the carmaker surpass annual sales of 1 million vehicles in China for the first time, a target it originally aimed for in 2010. Last year, Toyota sold 917,500 vehicles in China.

Toyota operates joint ventures in China with China FAW Group Corp and Guangzhou Automobile Group <601238.SS> <2238.HK>.

(Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Mat Driskill)