(Yicai) Sept. 28 -- The majority of Chinese car dealers have an optimistic outlook for the fourth quarter of the year despite lower-than-expected sales this month.

Sixty-three percent of auto resellers believe their sales volume for the upcoming quarter will increase about 5 percent from a year earlier, with about 16 percent of them expecting the rise to be between 5 percent and 10 percent, according to the results of a survey released by the China Automobile Dealers Association today.

Because of the constant price war in the Chinese automotive sector, over 75 percent of the surveyed dealers said they underperformed this month, the survey showed, but it is expected that October’s sales to be basically the same as September’s. Retail sales of passenger cars are expected to be two million this month, the CADA predicted.

Car sales usually decline in October from September. But this year, automakers have launched promotional events for next month to boost sales. Moreover, with the kick-off of auto shows during the upcoming Golden Week holiday, the number of store visitors and corresponding order volume will increase.

The Chinese auto dealers’ Vehicle Inventory Alert Index stood at 57.8 percent this month, up 2.6 percentage points from a year earlier and 0.9 percentage point from a month earlier, CADA data showed.

Editor: Futura Costaglione