Viet Nam's automobile sales in the first month of 2016 rose 16 per cent from the same period last year, amounting to 23,165 units. — VNS Photo Truong Vi

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam's automobile sales in the first month of 2016 rose 16 per cent from the same period last year, amounting to 23,165 units, the Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) announced on Tuesday.

The number of passenger cars sold increased 3 per cent to 14,090 units while commercial cars shot up 50 per cent to 8,200 units and special-purpose cars sales climbed 5 per cent to 875 units against January 2015.

The sale of domestically assembled cars over the month stood at 17,397 units, an increase of 29 per cent. Imported cars sales stood at 5,786 units, a reduction of 11 per cent.

However, the number of cars sold in January 2016 fell 21 per cent compared to the last month of 2015, in all car segments.

The number of passenger cars, commercial cars and special-purpose cars sold reduced by 16 per cent (14,090 units) , 28.4 per cent (8,200 units) and 24 per cent (875 units), respectively.

In 2015, total sales in the industry were 244,914 units, compared to 2014's 157,810. The growth rate was the highest ever – 55 per cent, continuing on a trend of accelerating growth in previous years.

Special-purpose vehicles saw the highest growth in sales at 105 per cent. Sales of passenger cars rose by 43 per cent, commercial vehicles by 74 per cent.

Sales of completely knocked down (CKD) vehicles went up by 48 per cent while completely built units (CBU) sold 74 per cent better year-on-year. — VNS