Chinese auto market takes over US as world's largest

Stimulus package fuels record high in passenger vehicle sales

China's passenger vehicle market ended last year with a 59 percent year-on-year sales increase to surpass the United States as the world's largest auto market for the first year, thanks to the central government's stimulus package.

The domestic sales of cars, sports-utility vehicles (SUV), minivans and multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) hit 10.26 million units last year, surging from 6.4 million units in 2008, said Rao Da, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association on Friday.