BEIJING, June 9 -- Chinese auto sales in May rose 28.35 percent from a year earlier to 1.44 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Tuesday.

But the figure was down 7.5 percent from the April level, the CAAM said in a statement.

Auto production grew 27.86 percent year on year to 1.42 million units last month but declined 9.39 percent on a month-on-month basis.

Combined sales in the first five months of the year surged 53.25 percent from a year earlier to 7.6 million units while auto production rose 55.59 percent to 7.54 million units in the period.

Sales of passenger cars climbed 55.06 percent from a year ago to 5.68 million units in the first five months of the year while that of commercial vehicles increased 48.13 percent year on year to 1.93 million units.

Based on the performance of China's auto industry in the first five months of the year, the CAAM estimates both auto sales and production in China will exceed 15 million units this year.

China made 13.79 million cars in 2009 and sales hit 13.64 million vehicles in the domestic market, up by over 40 percent year on year.