BEIJING, Nov. 21 -- Retail sales of China's passenger cars rose 11.3 percent year on year in October, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said on Thursday.

A total of 2.26 million passenger vehicles were sold last month, boosted by the week-long National Day holiday and policies including the national trade-in program, the CPCA data shows.

Among them, sales of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) surged to nearly 1.2 million units in October, while sales of petrol vehicles dropped to 1.07 million units, according to the CPCA.

The association said it expected passenger car sales would continue to heat up in November driven by China's "Double 11" shopping festival and the 22nd Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition lasting from Nov. 15 to 24.

The CPCA forecast passenger car sales to rise by 15.4 percent year on year to 2.4 million units in November, and NEV retail sales to reach 1.28 million units.