Car sales in Taiwan in the first 10 days of December rose 17.3 percent from a year earlier to 7,439 units on rising demand as the local economy staged a strong rebound, a car dealer said Tuesday. According to Hotai Motor Co., the Taiwanese distributor for Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corp., Taiwan's auto sales between Jan.1 and Dec. 10 rose 17.7 percent year on year to 304,246 units, surpassing the 294,000 units recorded for the entire 2009. A market consensus showed the growing domestic economy, coupled with the effects of the auto industry's peak season in the fourth quarter, is expected to boost sales for 2010 to 325,000 units, up about 10 percent from 2009. Previously, Hotai Motor had forecast sales of 300,000 units for 2010. In November, the government revised Taiwan's 2010 economic growth to 9.98 percent, from a previous estimate of 8.24 percent, to reflect a strong rebound in the first three quarters of the year on a recovery in private consumption and private investments as well as a strong rebound in exports. In the first nine months of this year, the island's gross domestic product rose 12 percent from a year earlier. Earlier this year, Yulon Motor Group Chief Executive Office Kenneth Yen said he was optimistic about the outlook of the local auto market for 2011 and forecast that car sales will range between 320,000 units and 350,000 units. Meanwhile, a rising New Taiwan dollar is expected to cut production costs for local auto makers as key imported car components have become cheaper, market observers said. The New Taiwan dollar extended its strength against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday and at one point breached the NT$30.00 mark to hit a 12-year high during the trading session before the central bank intervened to slow down the pace of appreciation. Due to the central bank's presence, the U.S. dollar closed at NT$30.045, recovering from a low of NT$29.890 Tuesday. Market observers said the New Taiwan dollar is expected to gain strength, which will continue to lower auto makers' production costs. 