Vehicle sales in September continued on the revival track taken sincelast May, on the back of multiple launches and improving consumersentiment.
Vietnam 's 18 leading vehicle manufacturerssold a combined 16,149 units in September, representing a 29-percentmonth-on-month increase and a 65-percent year-on-year increase,according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA).
Ofthe figure, cars made up 10,511 units, representing a 30-percentmonth-on-month increase, and trucks made up 5,638 units, representing a25-percent month-on-month increase.
"This is the 18thconsecutive month that industry volume has been higher than that of thesame period last year," VAMA chairman Jesus Metelo Arias said in astatement released on October 10.
"The total number ofvehicle sales for 2014 is predicted to hit 145,000 units, a 32-percentyear-on-year increase," Arias added.
Thaco, a domestic carmanufacturer, retained its market leadership with sales of 4,195 unitsor 32 percent of market share in September. Japanese manufacturerToyota came in second with sales of 3,747 units or 29 percent of marketshare, followed by US manufacturer Ford with sales of 1,390 unitsor 10.7 percent of market share.
Booming sales wereattributed to attractive financing deals, price discounts, cuts in carregistration fees and a brighter economic outlook.
Accordingto the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam 's economicgrowth rate in 2014 was set at 5.8 percent and CPI growth at less than 7percent.
Planning and Investment Minister Bui Quang Vinhsaid on October 9 that the country's gross domestic product growth couldreach 5.8 percent or even higher this year.
The rise invehicle sales last month was also attributed to the traditional peak inshopping towards the end of the year, usually beginning inmid-September.
In addition, a large number of vehiclesthat will become obsolete this year also helped trigger demand, as theGovernment stipulated that trucks more than 25 years old and cars morethan 20 years old could no longer be used.
According to the Vietnam Register, a total of 3,388 cars, 13,033 trucks and 67 buses will be taken off the road this year.
Meanwhile,about 7,000 completely-built units (CBU) were imported in Septemberthis year, bringing 132 million USD in revenue, the General StatisticsOffice (GSO) reported.
The number of CBUs in September is about 1,000 units more than that in August, but revenue fell by 4 million USD.
Theautomobile market has been stable since last June, as the number ofimported cars remained at 6,000 units and above per month, the highestin the last three years.-VNA
