China's major automakers end 21-month shrinking sales

SHANGHAI -- China's major automakers have finally seen sales rebound after negative growth for 21 consecutive months, an industrial association said.

Some 2 million units of vehicles were sold in April, up 39.8 percent month on month and 0.9 percent year on year, according to an estimate from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The figure brought the total sales in the first four months of this year to 5.67 million, down 32.1 percent year on year.

SAIC Motor, the largest vehicle manufacturer in China, said Saturday it sold 433,000 vehicles in April, up 0.5 percent year on year.

Geely Auto reported 105,468 units of vehicle sales in April, up 2 percent year on year and 44 percent month on month.

The emerging automaker Nio has doubled sales growth for two months in a row, with a record number of 2,907 ES6 models delivered in April. The monthly sales of the company rocketed by 181 percent year on year.

Cui Dongshu, an industrial analyst, said work resumption of major automakers, rising demand for private cars out of safety concerns amid the epidemic and automakers promotional activities all contributed to the sales rebound.

The auto sales growths are expected to continue in May and June, according to industrial analysts.