China's auto sales, which are already at record levels for the year, accelerated in November as the total for the first 11 months sped past 16 million units, data from an industry group showed Thursday.

A total of 1.7 million units were sold last month, up 26.9 percent from a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on its website.

The growth rate was faster than the 25.47 percent year-on-year increase recorded in October.

Total sales in the January-November period rose 34.1 percent year on year to a record 16.4 million units -- nearly three million more than in all of 2009.

China's auto sales for 2009 hit 13.64 million units as the nation took over the title of the world's top auto market from the United States.

Total sales were now likely to reach 18 million units this year, up 32 percent from 2009, CAAM was quoted by Dow Jones Newswires as saying.

Sales were expected to grow a relatively steadier 10 percent to 20 million units in 2011, said Xiong Chuanlin, vice secretary of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

November's figures were boosted by strong sales for cars with 1.6-litre or smaller engines, which have been rising in recent months as purchase subsidies are due to end this year, CAAM said.

Expectations that Beijing may issue regulations to limit traffic in the nation's capital next year are also driving sales, CAAM added.

State media said Thursday that more than 20,000 cars were sold in Beijing in the first week of December alone.

General Motors, which claims to be the first international carmaker to sell two million vehicles in a year in China, said last week its sales in the country rose 11.2 percent year-on-year to 196,990 units in November.

For the first 11 months, sales by GM and its Chinese joint venture partners rose 32.7 percent to 2.17 million.

Rival US auto maker Ford Motor said its sales in China soared 35 percent year-on-year last month to 56,829 units.

Ford's sales for January-November reached 525,100 units, up 39 percent from a year earlier.