1st LD-Writethru: China auto sales up 8.8 pct in March

Auto sales in China, the world's biggest auto market, surged 8.8 percent year on year to 2.44 million automobiles in March, data from an industry association showed Tuesday.

A total of 2.06 million passenger cars were sold last month, up 9.8 percent year on year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The country produced 2.52 million vehicles last month, up 10.3 percent year on year, the association said in an online statement.

In the first quarter, auto sales and output rose 6 percent and 6.2 percent year on year to 6.53 million and 6.59 million vehicles separately.

Meanwhile, passenger car sales of Chinese brands rose 11.1 percent year on year to 2.55 million, accounting for 45 percent of the total, higher than the same period last year.

Both production and output of new-energy vehicles were doubled in the first quarter than the same period last year.

Exports dropped 25.6 percent year on year to 136,000 vehicles in the first three months, according to the statement.

Chinese auto sales growth peaked at 45 percent in 2009 and has fallen steadily as cities try to control smog and congestion with limits on new vehicles.

Auto makers sold 24.6 million vehicles in China in 2015, up 4.7 percent. It was the smallest increase in three years, following increases of 6.9 percent and 13.9 percent in 2014 and 2013 respectively. Endi