BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's auto sales increased 5.7 percent year-on-year in September, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed Thursday. This is the fourth consecutive month of increase.
Some 2.71 million vehicles were sold last month, maintaining the momentum from August, when year-on-year sales rose by 5.3 percent.
Production was also up, with 2.67 million vehicles produced in September, a 5.5 percent increase on the same period last year, according to the CAAM.
In the first nine months, total auto output and sales increased by 4.8 percent and 4.5 percent year on year to 20.35 million and 20.23 million vehicles, respectively.
Some 78,000 new energy vehicles were sold last month, a year-on-year jump of 79.1 percent. This marks a further growth increase from the August level of 76.3 percent, driving sales growth for the January-September period up to 37.7 percent.
The robust growth came as China intensified efforts to encourage the use of new energy vehicles to ease pressure on the environment, by offering tax exemptions and discounts for car purchases, and ordering government organizations to buy more new energy vehicles.
China has been the world's largest car market for eight consecutive years.
