China car sales grew for fifth month in April, set new record

Special
Report: Global Financial Crisis

BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhua) -- China's automobile sales
probably reached a record high of 1.15 million units last month as the
government's stimulus plans began to pay off, estimates from the China
Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) indicated Thursday.

Official figures for vehicle production and sales are
scheduled for release next Monday.

Assuming the CAAM figures are borne out by official
data, April would be the fifth straight month of growth for the industry.

China unveiled a support package for the auto
industry early this year, cutting purchase taxes for cars with small engine
capacities and providing subsidies to rural purchasers.

The auto market boom showed that the stimulus
policies had greatly boosted consumer confidence, said Huang Yonghe, an expert
at the China Automobile Technology and Research Center.

According to CAAM, sales of minivans and economy cars
surged in April, with SGMW and ChangAn, China's two largest minivan makers,
recording sales gains of more than 50 percent from last year.

Sales of China's Chery, which makes cars with small
engine capacities, hit a record high of more than 42,000 units in April.

China's March auto sales grew 5 percent from a year
earlier to 1.11 million units.