SHANGHAI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Great Wall Motor saw vehicle sales rose 10.6 percent year-on-year to 283,842 units in the first quarter of the year.

In a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the privately-owned carmaker said sales of sport utility vehicles, its main products, rose 4.1 percent year-on-year to 232,657 units.

Its two electric car models contributed to 14,096 units and led to higher growth in overall sales as both went on sale in the second half of last year.

In March alone, its vehicle sales increased by 16.8 percent year-on-year to 103,090 units.

Shares of Great Wall Motor gained 1.62 percent to 9.40 yuan in Shanghai Tuesday even as the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.16 percent.