CHENGDU, Dec. 22 (NBD) -- China's automobile industry displays a up-tail tendency at the end of 2016, with SUV being the major driving force.

Data show, in the first 11 months this year, the sales volume of domestic SUV totaled 8,016,400 with a year-on-year increase of 45.3%, much higher than the 17.8% growth rate of passenger vehicles on the whole in the corresponding period.

SUV market goes through structural changes while sees rapid growth, according to NBD statistics.

In the first 11 months this year, medium-large SUV sales volume accounts for 14.5% of total SUV sales, higher than 10.2% last year.

Cui Dongshu, the secretary-general of China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), told NBD that future medium-large SUV will account for over 40% of the SUV market.

Experts say, the reason lies in lower customers' satisfaction towards medium-large saloon cars and higher price/performance ratio of medium-large SUVs. Accelerating consumption upgrading and improving product layout on such segment market is likely to usher in a new round of expansion for medium-large SUV in the coming year.