Hanoi (VNA) – Automobile sales in February declined61 percent from the previous month, the sharpest month-on-month fall ever.

The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturer Association (VAMA) onMarch 13 reported its members in February sold only 13,143 vehicles.

The sharpest drop was seen in sales of passenger cars at 67percent to only 9,157 vehicles, followed by special-use vehicles at 47 percentto 176 vehicles and commercial vehicles at 34 percent to 3,810 vehicles.

In the month, a similar downturn was seen indomestically-assembled and imported automobiles at 59 percent and 63 percentrespectively.

However, the sales did not reflect the consumption power ofthe country’s entire automobile market, as the figure did not include sales ofother manufacturers that are not VAMA members.

For example, Hyundai Thanh Cong alone sold 3,924 vehicles ofall kinds.

Huyndai was the most successful firm in the month, pushingToyota to the second place with 2,300 vehicles sold, followed by Mazda with1,701 vehicles, Honda with 1,625 vehicles, and Ford with 1,598 vehicles.

The Honda CR-V was the best selling car make in Februarywith 961 vehicles sold, followed by the Hyundai Accent and Grand i10 with 933and 849 vehicles. The Mazda 3 came fourth with 701 vehicles sold in the month.

Notably, the Toyota Vios, the best seller in many previousmonths, fell to bottom position in the top five best selling makes with only636 vehicles sold.

Insiders said the drop in the market was due to the longLunar New Year (Tet) holiday, falling in early February, which interrupted sales.Meanwhile, customers tended to purchase automobileS before Tet, thus reducingsales after the holiday.

Compared to the same time last year, sales in February roseslightly at 6 percent.

In the first two months of 2019, VAMA members sold 46,653vehicles of all kinds, up 21 percent year on year, along with 10,731 vehiclessold by Hyundai Thanh Cong.-VNA