China's auto output, sales down

China's automobile production and sales both dropped in April from a record high in March.

Auto production fell 6.1 percent from a month earlier to 2.07 million units in April, while sales declined 7.6 percent to 2 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in a statement, though both production and sales last month rose 8.8 percent year-on-year.

"Production and sales remained at a relatively high level in April despite of the drops from March," CAAM said.

In the first four months, total output increased 9 percent year on year to 7.95 million units and sales rose 9.1 percent to 7.93 million units.

China has remained the world's largest auto market and producer for five consecutive years, with production and sales both exceeding 20 million units for the first time in 2013.

Production and sales of passenger cars saw strong growth in the first four months of 9.8 percent and 10.5 percent respectively. Output of commercial vehicles increased by 5.5 percent year on year, while sales were up by 3.3 percent.

About 2.48 million cars of domestic brands were sold in the first four months, down slightly by 0.1 percent from a year earlier. Home brands accounted for 38.3 percent of passenger car sales from January to April, down 4.1 percentage points from the same period of last year.

Chinese auto makers exported 78,100 units in April, dropping by 12.6 percent from a year earlier. In the first four months, total export dropped 9.3 percent from the same period of last year to 286,800 units.