BEIJING, Oct. 13-- China's automobile sales grew year on year in September, though production fell, according to new official data.

Sales increased 2.1 percent to 2.02 million vehicles while production dropped 5.6 percent to 1.89 million, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in a statement on Tuesday.

Some 17.06 million vehicles were sold in the first nine months of 2015, 0.3 percent more than in the same period last year. On the same basis, production fell 0.8 percent to 17.09 million.

The CAAM attributed the sales growth in September mainly to growth in demand for passenger cars and new energy vehicles.

Passenger car sales jumped 3.3 percent year on year to 1.75 million in September, while sales of business cars dropped 4.9 percent to 273,600.

Chinese firms have begun to produce and sell many more pure electric and hybrid electric cars. Last month, 28,324 such vehicles were rolled off production lines, 210 percent more than in September 2014, and Chinese consumers bought 28,092 of them, 220 percent more than in September 2014.

Industry insiders have cited the economic slowdown, fierce competition and purchase restrictions in big cities as reasons for the recent auto market contraction.