April sales numbers released by leading carmakers in China indicated the country's automobile market has walked out of the shadow of the global financial crisis as the government's stimulus measures began to pay off, Wednesday's China Daily reported.

 

General Motors said on Tuesday its vehicle sales in China soared 50 percent year on year in April to 151,084 units, a new monthly high.

 

Its German rival Volkswagen was also expecting monthly sales record for April. The company's China CEO Winfried Vahland predicted Volkswagen's sales in April were likely to surpass March figures, which hit 112,466 units, presenting the company's historical high.

 

"It is a clear signal that the domestic automobile market is back on track and will keep growing this year," Zhong Shi, an independent auto analyst told the paper.

 

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers is expected to release its official sales figures this Friday or next Monday.

 

The country's automobile market has been growing for four consecutive months since last December, after it encountered the first drop since 2006 in August 2008.

 

Hui Yumei, analyst with automobile market research company Sinotrust, said the robust auto sales would continue in May and expected total sales to exceed 10 million units in 2009.

 

Both Hui and Zhong agreed the government's active and timely stimulus measures and industry support plan have spurred demand.

 

SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co, GM's mini-commercial vehicles joint venture, saw its sales in China leaped 60.6 percent in April from a year earlier to 95,544 units, driven up by the 5-billion-yuan subsidy program to stimulate auto sales in rural areas launched by the government in March.

 

The country's sales growth in the first three months has surpassed US figures and led China to come top in sales numbers in the global automobile market during the first quarter.