HA NOI (Biz Hub)— Viet Nam's auto sales were estimated to have eased by 3 per cent month-on-month to 9,360 units in July, Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) reported yesterday.

However, it noted that this figure was still up 26 per cent against July last year. This is the fourth consecutive month the total sales have been higher than the same period last year.

Of the sum, 3,959 cars were sold apart from 5,401 trucks and commercial vehicles. Car sales were up 2 per cent against June, while trucks were down by 7 per cent.

The sales of locally assembled cars in July rose by 3 per cent month-on-month to 7,676 units, but the increase could not compensate for the sharp 24 per cent drop in Completely Built Unit (CBU) sales to 1,684 units. The decrease was in marked contrast to the previous four months' upward trend.

VAMA members sold 8,209 vehicles in July, almost the same as June's figure and up 23 per cent year-on-year, said association chairman Jesus Metelo Arias.

Notably, while multi-purpose vehicles and passenger cars posted higher sales than both previous months and their 2012 equivalent, commercial vehicle sales fell 24 per cent and 10 per cent compared to June and same period last year respectively.

VAMA said that two agents, Vinacomin-Vinacoal and Vinaxuki, reported zero sales in July.

Impressive sales surges were recorded by Toyota (2,995 units), GM (460 units), Ford (685 units), and Honda (510 units).

The July figure has extended auto sales to 59,197 vehicles from the January to July period, an increase of 18 per cent from a year ago. Of these, car sales were up 25 per cent and sales of trucks and commercial vehicles were up 13 per cent.

With the current trend of recovery, together with the implementation of registration fee reductions in major cities, auto sales this year could be as high as 110,000 to 112,000 units, VAMA said in the report, having revised its earlier forecast of 100,000 units. — VNS