China's passenger car sales reached 1.6 million units in April, an increase of 12.4 percent year-on-year and a 6.5 percent growth compared with the same period in 2019, according to the latest data released by the China Passenger Car Association on Tuesday.

A stable domestic economic recovery and strong exports in the manufacturing industry have contributed to the growth, the association said.

Luxury car sales jumped 30 percent yearly to 250,000 units during the month, indicating strong demand for consumption upgrading.

China-made passenger vehicles witnessed retail sales of 590,000 units in April, up 24 percent on a yearly basis, with brands such as Chang'an, Hongqi, Chery and GAC Aion all registering large growth.

Export of whole vehicles and completely knocked down vehicles saw skyrocketing growth of 146 percent to 107,000 units in this month, with new energy vehicle exports taking up 16 percent of overall export volume. Export of China-made passenger cars reached 80,000 units, up 169 percent, the association said.

Wholesale sales of new energy cars grew 214.2 percent to 184,000 units in April. SAIC-GM-Wuling, Tesla China, BYD and SAIC Motor sold 30,602; 25,845; 25,450 and 13,004 units, respectively.

New energy vehicle exports witnessed explosive growth during the month, with Tesla China and SAIC Motor exporting 14,174 and 2,378 units respectively.

Passenger car sales during the January-April period totaled 6.7 million units, an increase of 50.7 percent, which can be attributed to the low base of the pandemic-stricken 2020, and a larger contribution from new energy vehicles, CPCA said.

Despite the uncertainty of the overseas pandemic situation, China's automobile exports increased 83 percent to 585,000 units in the first four months, with export revenues up 105.7 percent to $8.88 billion, customs data showed.

China's automobile demand is set to continue its recovery, the CPCA said, adding 8.39 million people in China obtained driver's licenses in the first quarter. Beijing will issue 60,000 new energy vehicle licenses in May. The policy of NEV going to the countryside will also boost car sales in the coming months of the year, it said.

As the automobile market has entered into the electrification era, vehicle life cycles will be shortened, which will bring in annual sales of over 40 million units in the future, the association said.