While China and the US have seen a fall in automotive sales in the last month, Russia and Canada are continuing to benefit from strong demand.

Car sales in Russia were up 7.4 per cent year on year during the January to October period, according to the Interfax news agency.

Vehicle sales in Canada meanwhile were up 3.9 per cent last month, despite warnings that the market remained soft.

Canadian dealers sold 116,746 vehicles in November, compared to 112,320 in the same month last year.

This comes in contrast to the much larger US market where November's light vehicle sales were down one per cent on a year ago.

In China meanwhile car manufacturers have experienced disappointing sales after over-estimating demand among the country's growing middle class.

The CITIC Auto Industry Index, which tracks listed vehicle manufacturers, has dropped 44.35 per cent since the start of this year.

"People are holding off on buying cars. Investors are holding off on buying auto shares," Haitong Securities analyst Hu Song told the Xinhua news agency.