Passenger car sales rose 21.2 percent last month in China from the same period of last year, fueled by multi-purpose vehicles and sport utility vehicles.

Domestic car makers delivered a record 496,900 units for October, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said. The growth was 11.4 percent slower than September.

Total vehicle sales grew 24 percent year on year to 7.15 million units during the January through October period.

Sedan sales amounted to 364,600 units last month, an increase of 20 percent from a year earlier while SUVs jumped 66.8 percent to 30,900 units. Sales of MPVs totaled 17,800 units with growth of 26.7 percent during the same period.

For the first ten months, China's passenger car sales increased 23.5 percent to 5.07 million units while production expanded at 21.7 percent year on year to hit 5.14 million units.

FAW Volkswagen, Germany-based Volkswagen AG's local venture with First Automotive Works Group Corp, sold most of the cars from January to October, following by Shanghai Volkswagen, Shanghai General Motors, Chery, Dongfeng Nissan, FAW Toyota, Guangzhou Honda, Geely, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen and Chang'an Ford Mazda.

The top 10 best sellers sold a combined 2.46 million units during the period, making up for 65 percent of total car sales.

Volkswagen's Jetta was the best selling model for the first 10 months with Santana, General Motors' Excelle, Toyota's Camry, Chery's QQ ranking second to fifth respectively.

The top 10 best-selling models, which also include FAW's Xiali, Focus made by Ford, Honda'a Accord, Hyundai's Elantra and Family from Haima Auto, sold a combined 1.23 million units, accounting for 32 percent of car sales.

China's self-branded models also performed well. By the end of October, cumulative sales of Chinese-branded models topped 1.03 million units, accounting for 27 percent of total car sales.

Among domestic players, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp gained the sales crown, trailed by FAW, Dongfeng Auto, Chang'an Auto and Beijing Auto.

(Shanghai Daily November 26, 2007)