(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-13 20:23

Auto production and sales in China both surged more than 20 percent to a record 8.8 million units in 2007, despite slackening sales in global markets, an industry group said Sunday.

China's automakers rolled out 8.88 million motor vehicles last year, up 22.02 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Total vehicle sales jumped 21.84 percent year-on-year to 8.79 million units in the world's second largest car market after the United States, twice the figure in 2003.

Both the output and sales beat the prediction of 8.5 million made at the beginning of last year.

Sales of sedans, or passenger vehicles excluding sport utility vehicles and minivans, accounted for 53.76 percent of the total sales.