BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Leading Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) maker BYD sold 24,011 NEVs in April, up from 13,918 in the same period last year.

The strong growth was primarily fueled by the sales surge in the pure electric passenger vehicles, soaring from 5,657 units in the same period last year to 16,116 units, the Shenzhen-based company said in a statement filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Thursday.

In the first four months of this year, BYD's NEV sales totaled 97,183 units, up 123.13 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, the company sold 13,828 gasoline-powered vehicles in April, a decrease from 23,445 in the same period last year. The total sales of gasoline-powered vehicles in the first four months also declined sharply by 44.85 percent year on year.

Bucking the downward trend in the broader Chinese auto market, sales of NEVs soared last year, seeing a 61.74 percent year-on-year growth to 1.26 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.