Vietnam’s February car sales rise 50 pct

By Reuters/My Pham March 8, 2017 | 12:12 am PT

Vehicles are seen along a street in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham

Vietnamese manufacturer Truong Hai Auto Corp, which assembles trucks, buses and sedans, led the sales tally.

Vietnam’s automobile sales in February jumped 50 percent from a year ago to 17,621 units, industry group VAMA said in a report released on Wednesday.

VAMA, short for Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, said sales by its 20 members in the second month of 2017 soared 54 percent year-on-year to 17,156 units, which include sport utility vehicles, passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

Tourist vehicles dropped 32 percent from a month earlier to 10,044 units while commercial vehicles rose 24 percent during the same period to 6,344 units, it said.

Vietnamese manufacturer Truong Hai Auto Corp, which assembles trucks, buses and sedans, led the sales tally in February, followed by Toyota Motor Corp.

A growing middle-class population, rising disposable incomes and falling tariffs on cars imported from neighboring countries in Southeast Asia appear to be driving Vietnam’s car market.

Tariffs on car imports from ASEAN countries have been cut from 40 percent last year to 30 percent and will be fully removed by 2018.

> Vietnam's car imports soar in January as tariffs fall