UPDATE 1-China June car sales up 48.5 pct on yr

(Adds details, combines vehicle sales)

BEIJING, July 9 (Reuters) - China's passenger car sales in June rose 48.5 percent from a year earlier as government stimulus measures boosted consumption, Xinhua said on Thursday.

A total of 874,000 cars were sold last month -- according to Reuters calculations -- up from 588,400 a year earlier, and above 829,100 units in May, Xinhua reported, citing the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Overall vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, rose 36.5 percent in June from a year earlier to 1.14 million units, the association said, compared with a 34.02 percent gain in May.

Growth in China's vehicle market, the world's largest, slowed in 2008 to its lowest annual rate in more than a decade as the global financial crisis took its toll.

The association said total vehicle sales for 2009 would exceed 11 million units, compared with a forecast of 10.2 million units made earlier this year.

Demand has rebounded since February, helped by government supportive measures, including halving the sales tax on small cars and subsidies for buyers in rural areas.

"It is hard to say exactly how long the boom will last, but double-digit growth in overall car sales this year is certainly achievable," said Chen.

General Motors GMGMQ.PK, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier in the month, saw its China vehicle sales rise 38 percent to an all-time record of 814,442 units in the first half, helped by its Wuling brand minivans and trucks made at its venture with SAIC Motor Corp (600104.SS).

GM's China chief Kevin Wale told Reuters last week that there had been no signs of a slowdown in sales so far and the U.S. carmaker expected its China vehicle sales to rise more than 10 percent this year.

The country's overall vehicle sales could rise to 10.4 million to 10.5 million units for the for year, said Wale, president and managing director of GM's China operations, equivalent to a 10.9 to 11.9 percent growth from 2008. (Reporting by Fang Yan and Kirby Chien; Editing by Chris Lewis)