SHANGHAI, China -- China's vehicle sales vaulted 78 percent in September from a year earlier, widening a lead over the United States as the world's top auto market, with sales spurred by tax cuts and government stimulus spending.

Overall vehicle sales totaled 1.33 million units, while passenger car sales climbed 84 percent to 1.02 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported.

Total sales for the first nine months of the year rose to 9.66 million units, up 34 percent from a year earlier, it said.

September was the seventh month that China's auto sales, boosted by tax cuts and subsidies as part of Beijing's stimulus, exceeded 1.1 million units. Sales in smaller cities have been booming as automakers rush to woo first-time car buyers with new models.

U.S. IN SECOND PLACE

China leads the world in total 2009 sales, with the United States in second place with January-September sales at about 7.85 million units. U.S. sales fell 23 percent from a year earlier in September to just under 746,000, following a summer buying spree driven by big discounts to consumers.

Given the weakness in other major markets, global automakers are looking to China to drive revenues amid sluggish demand elsewhere.

`VERY MODEST RECOVERY'

``The China market we expect to surpass the U.S. market in size for both the right and the wrong reasons,'' General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson told reporters in Shanghai on Tuesday.

Henderson predicted a ``very modest recovery'' in 2010 for the U.S. market.

But China, he said, would continue to enjoy very strong growth.

``The China market has benefited from economic stimulus that has generated primary demand. We see substantial opportunities in product-driven, competition-driven growth,'' he said.

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