More than 13.5 million vehicles were sold in China last year, Xinhua reports, making it the world's top car market for the first time. But sales are expected to slow this year.
The report, which cited the China Automotive Technology and Research Centre (CATRC), said car sales in the United States totalled 10.43 million in 2009, 2.8 million fewer than the year before. Sales in China rose 40 per cent from 2008.
China's revenues from car sales, however, are still far lower than in the US. In China, the average vehicle costs 130,000 yuan (HK$147,433) after tax, compared to 204,800 yuan in the US, CATRC statistics showed.
The four largest carmakers in China accounted for 60 per cent of the country's sales last year.
SAIC Motor Corp, the country's largest carmaker, sold 2.72 million vehicles, a 57 per cent increase from 2008. The company said in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange on January 5 that net income for last year rose a staggering 900 per cent.
Foreign carmakers also saw their sales in China increase strongly last year. Honda said it sold 576,223 units, up 23 per cent, and Toyota reported a 21 per cent rise to 709,000 units.
Both, however, lag behind General Motors, which saw sales jump 66.9 per cent last year from 2008 to 1.83 million.