SHANGHAI (AP) -- China's auto sales shot past the 12 million mark in the January-November period, with sales for all of 2009 expected to exceed 13 million, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday, citing industry figures.
The government-sanctioned China Association of Automobile Manufacturers was due to publicly release figures for the month of November later Monday.
The brief Xinhua report gave no further details. However, the figures show China maintaining its lead as the world's biggest auto market amid feeble sales in the U.S., Japan and Europe.
Automakers sold 1.2 million cars and trucks in China in October and 1.3 million units in September. According to Autodata CorpChina, sales this year rose to 10.9 million vehicles as of the end of October, compared with 8.6 million in the U.S.
Tax cuts and subsidies meant to nurture the auto industry and encourage use of more fuel-efficient vehicles have helped spur sales.
