BEIJING, April 9 (Reuters) - China's car sales rose

14.4% in March from a year earlier, as government-subsidised

trade-ins bolstered demand for electric vehicles and plug-in

hybrids, despite deepening deflationary pressures in the world's

largest auto market.

Passenger vehicle sales hit 1.97 million units last month,

and were up 6.1% to 5.18 million units in the first quarter,

data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on

Wednesday.

EVs and plug-in hybrids outsold gasoline cars for the first

time in four months to make up 50.4% of overall sales in March.

The program likened to the U.S. "cash-for-clunkers" stimulus

awards a shift toward EVs with higher subsidies and had covered

2 million cars as of early this year, as households remained

cautious about spending amid job and income worries.

Chinese EV giant BYD , reliant on its

home market for 90% of global sales, beat Tesla in

global EV deliveries for the second straight quarter in the

January-March period.

BYD kicked off a smart EV price war in February, prompting a

slew of automakers including Leapmotor, Geely and

Toyota ( TM ) to bill affordable smart driving technology as a

standard setup rather than a premium feature on their new cars.

Nonetheless, a fatal crash involving one of Xiaomi ( XIACF )

's SU7 sedans at the end of last month has stirred a

debate over the safety of smart driving systems, prompting

founder Lei Jun to vow to "respond to the concerns of families

and society".

Xiaomi ( XIACF ), which has been on a roll since the SU7 launch in

March last year, raised its 2025 target for EV deliveries to

350,000 units in mid-March.

Car exports fell 8% last month from a year earlier,

reversing an 11% increase in February.