By Li Hongmei

Sichuan-based liquor giant Wuliangye Group sold 85 company vehicles for a total of US$838,000, Beijing News reports.

Wuliangye was reportedly planning to sell 90 company cars but four of them could not be sold due to incomplete registration while another did not attract any bidders.

It was reported that selling the cars would help the company, which has seen declining profits, save more than US$1.3 million a year.

Li Weixing, who claimed to be a supervisor for Wuliangye, spent US$22,600 to buy a 2013 Toyota Camry, which he said was the company car that was assigned to him last year. He said that his Camry only has 6,000km on the clock and attracted a number of bids in the auction.

"This is the maximum I can afford," Li said. "I wanted to buy back the car because it will make my life easier."

In addition to Wuliangye's employees, other bidders joined the auction as it can be difficult to find a used car in good condition. "It can be a bit more expensive but at least you know where and how these vehicles were used," said a bidder at the scene.

A used car dealer surnamed Wang said many bidders were his competitors. "At least 20 or 30 used car dealerships sent their representatives to the auction," Wang said. "This event was regarded as an important event but we were a bit surprised by the prices the cars went for."