China's output of motor vehicles ranked the third in the world after Japan and the United States in 2007, according to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The top ten producers, which also included Germany, the Republic of Korea, France, Brazil, Spain, Canada and India, rolled out 55.3 million motor vehicles, accounting for 76 percent of the world's total production of 73.1 million.

In 2007, the global output of passenger vehicles --including sedans, sport utility vehicles and minivans -- rose 6.1 percent to 53 million while that of commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses, rose 3.7 percent to 20 million.

China's automakers produced 8.88 million motor vehicles last year, up 22.02 percent from a year earlier, with 6.38 million of passenger vehicles and 2.5 million commerical vehicles, according to CAAM figures.

Total vehicle sales jumped 21.84 percent year-on-year to 8.79 million units in the world's second largest car market after the U.S., twice the figure in 2003.

Dong Yang, CAAM vice chairman, said China's auto industry had made impressive progress in developing independently owned brands. He added indigenous models accounted for more than 95 percent of commercial vehicles and 40 percent of passenger vehicles on the domestic market.

Sales of sedans reached 4.73 million units, or 53.76 percent of the total vehicle sales. About 1.24 million were indigenous models such as Xiali and Chery QQ.

(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2008)