China's auto sales hit 18.06 million last year, up 32.37 percent from the previous year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) announced Monday.

China's car output topped 18.26 million last year, an annual increase of 32.44 percent, said Zhu Yiping, associate secretary-general of the CAAM at a press conference.

Both figures underpinned China's position as the world's biggest car producer and market, Zhu said.

China's auto sales in December topped 1.67 million, up 17.9 percent year on year, but down 1.79 percent month on month.

Auto output in December stood at 1.87 million, up 22.3 percent year on year or 6.27 percent month on month.

Sales of passenger vehicles rose 33.17 percent year on year to 13.76 million last year, while sales of commercial vehicles were up 29.9 percent year on year to 4.3 million.