BEIJING, Dec. 11 -- China's vehicle sales rose 27.4 percent year on year and 4.1 percent month on month in November, reaching 2.97 million units, latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed Monday.

The nation's vehicle output in the same month hit 3.09 million units, up 29.4 percent year on year and 7 percent compared to the previous month, the data showed.

In a report, the association said that the vehicle market's performance exceeded expectations in November when monthly vehicle output hit a record high while sales reached almost 3 million units.

During the first 11 months of this year, vehicle production and sales hit 27.11 million and 26.94 million units, growing by 10 percent and 10.8 percent year on year, the data showed.

Data released Monday also revealed that in the January-November period, the new energy vehicles production and sales hit 8.43 million and 8.30 million units, surging 34.5 percent and 36.7 percent year on year.

In November alone, production and sales of new energy vehicles hit 1.07 million and 1.03 million units, respectively, up 39.2 percent and 30 percent year on year, data showed. The association said in the report that it also marked the first time that monthly production and sales of new energy vehicles both surpassed 1 million units.

In November, the country's vehicle exports hit 482,000 units, up 46.3 percent year on year, even though the volume dipped by 1.1 percent compared to the previous month, the data showed. Exports totaled 4.41 million units in the January-November period, up 58.4 percent year on year.