Chinese car sales hit monthly high

Sales of passenger vehicles in China hit a record monthly high of 285,360 in April as buyers plunged back into the market, according to figures from the China Automobile Manufacturers Association reported by state media today.

The April figure for total passenger vehicle sales, which included cars, multipurpose vehicles and sport utility vehicles, was up 15.7% over April 2004 and up 7.2% from March, the state-run newspaper Shanghai Daily reported.