CHINA'S monthly auto sales in April continued to grow by a double-digit pace as in the first quarter as new launches fueled demand.

Deliveries of passenger cars and commercial vehicles increased 13.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.84 million units last month as sales almost kept the same pace of growth registered in the January-March period, the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers reported yesterday.

The deliveries included 1.44 million sedans, sport-utility vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles in April, up 13 percent year on year, the association said.

The China Passenger Car Association said the country's passenger car sales grew 15 percent in April due to several new rollouts that coincided with the Auto Shanghai 2013 show taking place.

Rao Da, the secretary-general of the CPCA, expects the excitement created by the auto show to last for a while.

"Without intervention from the government, sales of passenger cars (in China) may add 2 million units this year," he said, implying that the segment will return to double-digit growth.

The sales of domestic passenger car brands in the past four months increased 16.3 percent from the same period a year earlier, 0.1 percentage point higher than the segment's average rate, giving them a 42.4 percent market share.

German, US, South Korean and French automakers all saw sales surge above 20 percent while Japanese carmakers suffered a 12.9 percent drop.