China's sold 7.22 million auto units last year, up 25.13% from 2005, amid fierce competition for a slice of the action in the world's third largest market, a state press report said Jan. 11.

After another stellar year, China's automakers produced 7.28 million vehicles in 2006, up 27.32% from 2005, the Xinhua news agency said citing the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Sales of passenger cars increased 30.03% to 5.18 million while production surged up 32.76% to 5.23 million. Sales of commercial vehicles rose 14.23% to 2.04 million and output up 15.25% to 2.05 million.

The top 10 automakers produced about 83.9% of all auto sales. Among them, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), First Automobile Works (FAW) and Dong Feng Motor Corp (DFMC) sold 1.22 million, 1.17 million and 932,300 vehicles respectively as the three top retail sellers.

Nearly all the vehicles these companies sell are made under their foreign venture partners' name, such as Volkswagen, Ford or General Motors.

Chery Automobile the largest privately owned Chinese auto group, which has said is wants to sell its cars in the U.S., ranked seventh with sales of 302,500 vehicles.

Geely Group, another privately-owned company that develops its own models, sold 204,400 vehicles in 2006, making it the 10th largest automaker in China.