BEIJING - Chinese passenger vehicle sales hit a three-year high in January, official data showed Friday.

Sales of Chinese brand passenger vehicles reached over 1 million in January, up 16.6 percent year on year and accounting for about 45 percent of total passenger vehicles sales in the country, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

China produced about 2.45 million automobiles in January, up 7.1 percent year on year, with sales totaling about 2.5 million, 7.7 percent up on last January.

SUVs posted the strongest growth among passenger vehicle. A total of 784,900 such vehicles were sold in January, up 60.5 percent year on year.