HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Kia Motors Corp.’s sales in China rose 1.7 percent in August from a year earlier amid the country’s economic slowdown, an industry group said Friday.

South Korea’s second-largest automaker sold 35,610 units in China last month, compared with 35,015 units in the same month of last year, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

The figure was a 7.5-percent increase from 33,111 in July this year.

In the first eight months of the year, Kia Motors sold 289,817 vehicles in China, up 12.7 percent from 257,158 in the same period last year.

Chinese consumers grew slightly less confident in spending in recent months as the economy shows signs of a slowdown.

Meanwhile, Kia’s larger affiliate Hyundai Motor Co. saw its sales in China rise 17.5 percent in August from a year earlier on the back of its newly established third Chinese plant, which started to roll out more cars, including the Chinese exclusive model Langdong.

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s leading automaker, sold 75,158 units in China last month, compared with 63,036 units in the same month of last year, the CPCA data showed. The figure was a 17.4 percent increase from 64,002 in July this year.

In August, China’s total passenger car sales rose 11.3 percent to 1.21 million units from 1.08 million units a year earlier.

Compared to July, auto sales gained 8.6 percent from 1.11 million last month.

During the January-August period, overall passenger car shipments in China reached 9.3 million units.