China's passenger car sales grew nearly 8 percent in the first four months from a year ago, with deliveries of SUVs soaring almost 49 percent, according to latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers yesterday.
From January to April, passenger vehicle sales rose 7.7 percent from a year earlier to 6.97 million units. Total vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, added 2.77 percent to 8.14 million units in the same period, CAAM said yesterday.
Sales of SUVs in the January-April period jumped 48.73 percent year on year to 1.75 million vehicles, while MPV sales surged 20.02 percent year on year to 749,800 vehicles during the period.
Li Chunrong, general manager of Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Co, said at a CAAM monthly data release media conference that Chinese automakers are keen on making SUV-like vehicles as CAAM deputy secretary Shi Jianhua also attributed the sales growth of passenger vehicles to SUVs.
Meanwhile, China’s auto sales growth decelerated as April deliveries in the world’s biggest auto market shed 0.49 percent year on year to 1.99 million vehicles, according to CAAM.
