BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The share of Chinese passenger car brands in the domestic market increased in the first two months of the year, data from an industry association showed.

Over 1.63 million Chinese brand passenger cars were sold in the country during the period, surging 20.3 percent year on year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The market share of these brands accounted for 44.6 percent in the country in the January-February period, up 2.2 percentage points year on year.

In February alone, the sales of Chinese brand passenger cars soared 27.9 percent year on year to about 634,000 units, with a market share basically unchanged from the same period last year.