Passenger vehicle sales in China rose by almost 24 percent in the first three quarters, mainly driven by strong demand for sedans, an industry association said yesterday.

January-September sales of domestically made passenger vehicles - sedans, multipurpose vehicles (MPVs), sports-utility vehicles (SUVs) and microvans - reached 4.58 million units, up 23.84 percent from a year ago, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Meanwhile, sedan sales shot up by 25.76 percent to 3.44 million units.