Around 28,280 cars were sold in the country in October, an increase of 26 per cent compared to the same period last year, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) said.

As per the data with the VAMA, the sales figures in October are the highest since early this year, even higher than the 24,400 cars sold in June, a month when consumers flocked to buy cars to avoid the Government’s adjustment of special consumption tax for automobiles which came into effect on July 1.

Last month witnessed two large car exhibitions, in HCM City and Ha Noi. The high level of competition prompted several automobile manufacturers to reduce the price of cars so as to attract customers and stimulate demand. That’s one reason why sales have shot up.

The sale of passenger car topped the charts, with 18,134 units, up by 7 per cent from the previous month. After this came commercial cars, which declined by 2 per cent to touch 8,928. The purchase of special-purpose vehicles was up 10 per cent to reach 1,221 units. Of these 20,880 units were locally assembled, the remaining were imported.

Local carmaker Truong Hai Automobile JSC (Thaco) continued to lead sales with 9,895 units, occupying 40.4 per cent of the market share. Toyota Motor Vietnam is in the second slot with 5,532 units, owning 22.6 per cent of the market share. They are followed by Ford Vietnam and Honda Vietnam, which have sold 2,430 and 1,247 units, respectively.

Going by the October sales figures, around 300,000 units are expected to be sold this year, with an average sale of 28,000 units per month. — VNS