China First Automotive Works (FAW) Group, one of the country's major auto makers, produced 1.47 million motor vehicles last year and sold 1.44 million, company sources said on Monday.

Sales were 23.2 percent higher than in 2006.

The sales volume included 1.19 million cars, up 23.1 percent, 155,000 heavy-duty and mid-sized trucks, up 26.6 percent, and 77,000 light trucks, up 18.4 percent.

The sources said last year saw FAW Group sell 620,000 motor vehicles under its own brands, up 12.8 percent. This total included 28,800 units exported, up 44 percent, with a value of 387 million U.S. dollars, up 100.7 percent.

Auto sales by FAW Group's joint ventures, including one with Germany's Volkswagen and another with Japan's Toyota, grew 32.4 percent to 816,000 vehicles, or 56.8 percent of the group's total annual vehicle sales.

In terms of vehicles with foreign brand names, the group sold 366,000 Volkswagen cars, up 38.7 percent, 92,000 Audi cars, up 19.4 percent, and 287,259 Toyota cars, up 28.2 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2008)