BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Vehicle Inventory Alert Index, which reflects the inventory pressure of automobile dealers, rose 5.7 percentage points month on month in April, new data showed.
The index stood at 61 percent last month, up 6.47 percentage points from a year ago, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association.
A higher reading indicates weaker market demand, higher inventory pressure and greater risks. The index has stayed above 50 percent since the beginning of last year, the association said in a statement.
The sub-index for market demand dropped from 50.7 percent in March to 31.9 percent in April, while that for average daily sales dropped from 56.3 percent in March to 36.9 percent in April, the data showed.
China's auto sales dropped 2.76 percent year on year last year and 12.12 percent in the first four months of this year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
