SHANGHAI — Chinese automobile sales rose to nearly 1.8 million units in November, according to data released this week by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), up 11.5 percent from a month earlier and 8.2 percent higher than the same month last year.

Sales of passenger cars saw a larger increase than those of commercial vehicles. About 1.5 million passenger cars were sold in November, up 12.5 percent from October. Commercial vehicle sales totaled 329,700, up 7.4 percent in the same comparison.

Total auto production also increased to nearly 1.8 million units, up almost 11 percent from October and 3.9 percent higher year on year.

Both sales and production are on course to exceed 19 million units for 2012, marking a slight increase from prior-year levels, according to a published report citing CAAM.

In 2011, auto sales in China totaled 18.5 million units, while production reached 18.4 million units.

A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Steel First.