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

BEIJING (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp 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 (2238.HK).

(Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Mat Driskill)