"It's an honour and much pride to have a president of the Republic pick one of our cars," a Citroen spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.

The Socialist Hollande, who secured his spot as the Elysee Palace's newest resident in Sunday's election win over President Nicolas Sarkozy, will ride in a metallic-gray DS5 hybrid boasting an electric and diesel engine.

But the standard model sold in stores will be jazzed up with a sunroof for the drive down the Champs-Elysees, allowing Hollande to wave to supporters.

The first French president to opt for a Citroen vehicule was the centre-right Rene Coty, who in 1954 chose the Traction 15/6 H, a symbol of the French Resistance during the war.

But it was Charles de Gaulle who brought celebrity to the brand when he escaped an assassination attempt aboard a Citroen DS in 1962 -- two tyres were punctured by bullets but the president left unharmed.

The outgoing Sarkozy arrived at his 2007 inauguration in a Peugeot 607 Paladine -- a dark, sleek vehicule with a folding hardtop.

Total vehicle sales for the month stood at 1.62 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement. The growth rate improved from a 1.0 percent rise in March.

But sales for the first four months of the year dropped 1.3 percent to 6.42 million units, the group said, though the decline slowed from a 3.4 percent slump for the first quarter.

China's auto sales have slowed after the government rolled back incentives and some cities imposed tough restrictions on car numbers to ease chronic traffic congestion and pollution.

Last year, vehicle sales rose just 2.5 percent to 18.51 million units in 2011, compared with an increase of more than 32 percent in 2010.

Yao Jie, deputy head of the association, on Wednesday described the overall auto market as sound but urged the government to promote sales and help domestic car makers receive financing, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Foreign car makers in China have fared better despite the slowdown, helped by name recognition and perceptions of higher quality, analysts say.

US auto giant General Motors said Monday that it saw record sales in China in April, with an 11.7 percent surge to 227,217 vehicles.