Indigenous brands overtook Japanese models to head the Chinese sedan market during the first four months this year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

About 449,700 home brand sedans were sold in China from January to April, occupying a 29.3-percent market share, 3,21 percent higher than Japanese brands.

But only two Chinese brands entered into the top 10 sales list; the Xiali, produced by Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Co. Ltd., was in fifth place and the Chery QQ in sixth.

The Volkswagen (VW) Santana, General Motors (GM) Excelle, VW Jetta and Toyota Camry were the top four.

The top three producers were Shanghai GM, Shanghai VW and FAW VW, all of which are Sino-foreign joint ventures that mainly produce cars with foreign brands.

Chery and Geely, the two carmakers widely regarded as flag-bearers of the Chinese homegrown brands, ranked fourth and seventh.

China sold 2.08 million passenger cars in the first four months, up 20.7 percent year on year, including 1.53 million sedans, 100,200 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and 73,700 multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs).