China 2009 Car Sales up 52.9% YoY - Official

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Jan. 12 -- China's passenger car sales rose 52.9 percent in 2009 to 10.3 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Monday.

Sales in December alone jumped 88.7 percent from a year earlier to 1.1 million units, it said.

That compared with annual growth of 98.2 percent in November alone and 49.7 percent in the first 11 months of 2009, according to data from CAAM.

Overall vehicle sales, from buses and trucks to cars, came to 13.6 million units, up 46.2 percent from 2008, it said.

China, the world's largest auto market, was a major bright spot last year amid a steep global industrial downturn as government policy initiatives bolstered automobile demand.