BEIJING - China's auto sales rose 2.8 percent year on year to 1.98 million units in October, data from an industry association showed on Friday.

Vehicle output increased 6.7 percent to 2.04 million units in the month, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

In the first ten months of the year, output stood at 19.27 million and sales at 18.99 million, up 7.92 percent and 6.58 percent respectively.

Sales of commercial cars remained a drag on industry growth. Last month, China sold 278,300 commercial cars, down 14.9 percent from a year earlier.

The share of domestic brands came in at 39.54 percent in October sales, while German and Japanese cars continued to lead the market.

CAAM made an earlier forecast that market demand for automobiles would hit 23.83 million this year, representing an 8.3-percent rise from 2013.

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