CHICAGO — General Motors (GM) and its joint ventures sold record 345,448 vehicles in China in March this year, up 16 percent year-on-year.

The US automaker attributed the increase, the largest since last August, to brisk sales of SUVs, MPVs and luxury vehicles, saying its Buick, Cadillac and Baojun brands all hit new sales records in March in China.

According to figures posted on GM's website, Buick sales rose 21 percent to record 88,519 units; Cadillac sales rocketed 63 percent to 12,369 units; and Baojun soared 81 percent to 81,353 units.

Cadillac sales in China totaled 39,414 units in the first three months of this year, up 90.5 percent year-on-year.

In another development, Ford and its joint ventures sold only 90,457 vehicles in China in March, down 21 percent year-on-year; and a total of 255,261 units in the first quarter of 2017, down 19 percent year-on-year.

However, Ford remains optimistic about its market in China.

"We continue to see strong demand from Chinese customers for our premium Taurus large sedan, Edge and Everest SUVs and performance vehicles in the first quarter," Peter Fleet, vice president of Ford's Asia Pacific marketing, sales and service, said in a statement. "We are pleased with the momentum that Lincoln continues to make in China."