A tax reduction on smaller vehicles and the introduction of new models have helped a 6.8 percent growth in Chinese passenger vehicle sales in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2015, for a total of 5.64 million units, industry data showed on Monday.

Toyota Motor Corp and Ford Motor Co were the two leading automakers delivering the most vehicles to Chinese customers in the first three months, the China Passenger Car Association said.

Toyota sold 291,000 cars in the January-March period, up 28 percent year-on-year. Ford sales rose 14 percent to 314,454 vehicles during the same period.