China's largest auto group, SAIC Motor Corp, said its net profit for 2010 more than doubled from a year earlier as it benefited from robust vehicle sales.

The net income for SAIC, the Chinese partner of General Motors Corp and Volkswagen, soared 108 percent from 2009 to 13.7 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) last year.

The auto maker attributed the profit surge to a slew of new products which improve sales.

Last year, the car maker sold 3.58 million vehicles, up 31.5 percent from a year earlier. It became the first domestic auto group to break the 3 million-unit milestone in China.

Its sales surged 125 percent annually to 313.3 billion yuan. But sales gained an annual growth of only 42 percent if contribution from its joint venture, Shanghai GM, was not included.

SAIC's higher profit and sales were in line with China's booming auto market, which surged 33 percent to 18 million units.