Carmakers sold 2.51 million vehicles last month, up 6.9 percent year-on-year, said the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on Thursday.

They brought total sales in the first 10 months this year to 21.98 million units across the country, up 4.6 percent from the same period last year.

Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the CAAM, said total sales this year are likely to reach 27 million, which will mark a 3 percent rise from 2021.

Sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids stood at 714,000 units last month, up 81.7 percent year-on-year. They accounted for 28.5 percent of total vehicle deliveries in October.

NEV sales from January to October reached 5.28 million units, up 110 percent year-on-year.

China's vehicle exports hit a monthly record in October, with 337,000 units shipped overseas. Of them, around one third were NEVs, up 81.2 percent year-on-year.