SAIC, China's largest automaker and primary joint venture partner to global giants GM and Volkswagen, said its sales plunged 14% in January, as the world's largest car market sputtered under the weight of a slowing economy.

SAIC said it sold 611,502 cars in January, down from 712,152 a year earlier, according to a stock exchange announcement on Friday. The 14% decline for the month represented an acceleration from December, when the company's sales fell 10% from a year earlier.

SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd.'s data for the first month of 2019 comes after the overall China auto market posted its first contraction in more than two decades. Overall sales fell 2.8% to 28.1 million units for the year, including a 19% decline in December, according to the China Passenger Car Association. The group expects sales to be flat this year.