Shanghai (ZXZC)- China auto outputs and sales reached 1.503 million and 1.455 million units last month, soaring 418.9% and 364.8% respectively from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

As of Feb. 2021, China's monthly outputs and sales rose year over year for eleven months in a row.

The surge reflects the low sales for the same period last year. Auto sales slumped 79.1% in Feb. 2020 as many cities in the country were in lockdown and factories and dealerships were shut.

Another contributing factor to the jump is the rising market demands, said the CAAM.

Compared to the previous month, the country's auto outputs and sales fell 37.1% and 41.9% on account of less working days in Feb. due to the Spring Festival holiday.

For the first two months of 2021, China auto sales amounted to 3.958 million units, leaping 76.2% year on year. The sales edged up 2.7% compared to Feb. 2019, while shrank 12.6% over the same period in 2018.

PV sales stood at 1.156 million units last month, rocketing 409.9% from the previous year. The SUV sales amounted to 0.566 million units, around 38 thousand units more than that of the car segment.

Thanks to the year-ago low base, the car, SUV, MPV and minibus segments all scored precipitous year-over-year growth in February.

There were roughly 188 thousand luxury cars sold in China last month, a 435.4% hike year over year. For the Jan.-Feb. period, the domestic luxury car sales totaled 517 thousand units.

In February, CV sales shot up 246.2% over the prior-year period to 299 thousand units. Notably, the sales of heavy-duty trucks reached 118 thousand units (+214.9% YoY), versus 117 thousand units in light-duty truck sales.