Hanoi (VNA) – Car sales reached 281,473 units during the January-Juneperiod, a year-on-year rise of 21 percent, the Vietnam AutomobileManufacturers’ Association (VAMA) reported on July 9.

 As many as 113,115 passenger cars weresold in the period, up 35 percent from the same time last year. Meanwhile,sales of commercial and special-purpose vehicles experienced fell 1.5 percentand 32 percent to 38,071 units and 3,047 units, respectively.

In stark contrast with the sales of domestically-assembled cars which dropped14 percent year on year to 91,731, that of imported units shot up 203 percentto 62,542.

Automobile sales in June picked up 0.1 percent on strong discounts and various promotionalprogrammes. As many as 27,520 units were sold, including 20,287 passenger,6,649 commercial and 584 special-purpose cars.

VAMA said that the figures do not reflect the country’s entire automobilemarket, as they did not include sales of other manufacturers that are not VAMAmembers such as Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Volkswagen,Volvo, and Hyundai Thanh Cong.

Hyundai Thanh Cong alone sold 35,723 vehicles of allkinds in the six-month period.

According to experts, the auto market registered a modest expansion ascustomers are waiting for new models of Suzuki, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, amongothers, to be rolled out in July.

Many customers have ordered VinFast’s Lux sedan and Lux SUV, and they willreceive their cars at the end of July, thus affecting VAMA’s car sales in thefirst half.

Besides, the Vietnam Motor Show 2019, to be held at the Saigon Exhibition andConvention Centre from October 23-27, will be a chance for local consumers to choosesuitable cars from renowned brands like Audi, Ford, Jaguar, Honda, Land Rover,Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Suzuki, Volkswagen and Volvo.-VNA