China's population remains car crazy, new figures from major manufacturers show, with sales at the country's biggest auto maker doubling between 2001 and 2002.

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) said on Friday that it sold 610,000 vehicles last year, overtaking the previous holder of the top spot, First Automotive Works.

Admittedly SAIC's sales outstrip the headline figure for domestic car sales growth.

But with almost 3.25 million vehicles (1.09 million cars) sold in the massive country in 2002, 40% more than in the year before, the rate of change is blistering by any standards.

Foreign interest

Not only Chinese carmakers are getting in on the act.

Japan's auto firms are now well established with secure joint venture partners in China, as are many European and US top marques, and most are ramping up production and investment.

Ford unveiled its first Chinese-made car earlier in January,

Nissan estimates the Chinese market will reach 5 million vehicles a year by 2010, making it third in the world after the US and Japan.

The market has some distance to go before achieving those kind of numbers, despite the country's 1.2bn-strong population.

But revenues from SAIC's sales still jumped 22.4% to 120bn yuan, the first time the firm's sales have topped $10bn, a spokesman told Reuters.