December auto sales hit monthly high

It represented a 32 percent rise from November and 45 percent increase from the same period in 2019.

The data shows 36,856 units sold in December were passenger cars, up 28 percent over the previous month, 10,673 were commercial vehicles, up 50 percent and 331 units were special-purpose vehicles, down 30 percent.

Despite the late surge, total auto sales in 2020 still fell 8 percent year-on-year to 296,634 units due to deep plunges recorded in April and August after two major Covid-19 outbreaks.

Local brand Truong Hai Auto (Thaco) retained the top spot in 2020 with a 35.5 percent share of the market as sales rose 10 percent to 100,727 units.

It was followed by Toyota with 70,692 units, down 11 percent and Mitsubishi with 28,954 units, down 6 percent.

Ford and Honda rounded out the top five.