BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The new energy vehicle (NEV) market in China posted vigorous growth in the January-April period amid a sluggish broader automobile sector.

About 360,000 NEV cars were sold in the first four months of 2019, surging by 59.8 percent from the same period a year earlier, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed Monday. The production also rose 58.5 percent year on year.

The broader automobile sector, however, remained sluggish as the total sales of motor vehicles for the first four months declined by 12.1 percent from the previous year.