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GM says China April vehicle sales down 0.4 percent

A labourer is reflected in the glass of a Shanghai General Motors exhibition hall in Shanghai in this file photo taken on May 28, 2009. REUTERS/Stringer

BEIJING (Reuters) - General Motors and its Chinese joint ventures sold 258,484 vehicles in China in April, down 0.4 percent from a year earlier, the U.S. automaker said on Thursday.

GM for the first time reported retail sales to customers rather than wholesale vehicle sales to dealers. Retail figures are generally viewed as a more accurate gauge of consumer demand.

Under the previous methodology, the automaker had reported an 8 percent year-on-year rise in March and a 1.3 percent increase in February.

(Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Stephen Coates)