Korea's automobile market grew 10.3 percent in 2015 in the face of an economic slump, becoming the world's 10th largest in vehicle sales, data showed Friday.

More than 1.83 million domestically made and imported cars were sold here last year, accounting for 2 percent of auto sales around the globe, according to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers' Association (KAMA).

In 2014, the country was the 11th-largest auto sales market.

The organization said the increase in auto sales was partly due to a tax cut on the purchases of autos and strong demand for SUVs.

China posted sales of more than 24.6 million new cars last year, up 4.7 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 26.8 percent of global sales. China retained the world's largest automobile market for the seventh consecutive year.

Strong sales of small vehicles offset a slump in SUVs and other mid-sized autos in the world's most populous country.The number of vehicles sold in the United States also rose 5.9 percent on-year last year to 17.84 million, making the U.S. the second-largest market for new vehicles.

Japan ranked third with 5.04 million vehicles sold last year, down 9.4 percent from a year earlier, followed by Germany with sales of 3.54 million vehicles, India with 3.42 million and Britain with 3.06 million.

Global auto sales edged up 1 percent on-year in 2015 to reach 91.65 million.

Meanwhile, China topped the list in auto production last year with 24.5 million units, up 3.3 percent from a year earlier. The U.S. came in second with 12.1 million made last year, followed by Japan with 9.28 million and Germany with 6.19 million.

Korea ranked fifth in terms of auto production with 4.56 million, the data showed. (Yonhap)