Vietnamese car sales nearly doubled in the first 11 months of 2007, pushed by a strong rise in demand for passenger cars, manufacturers said on Wednesday. Car sales rose 97 percent during the period, withrers' Association (VAMA) said in its monthly report.
In November alone, passenger car sales reached 10,110 vehicles, still relatively small by regional standards, but up 167 percent year-on-year. That month's growth came mainly from commercial vehicles, with a 235-percent increase on November 2006, VAMA said.
Vietnam, a fast-growing economy of 84 million people, has seen the emergence of more middle-income earners who are switching from motorcycles to cars. The government last month cut import car tariffs from 70 to 60 percent.
VAMA sold a total of 58,320 cars between January and October, up 88 percent compared to the same period of 2006. The biggest sellers of passenger cars in Vietnam between January and November were Japan's Honda and Vidamco, a joint venture between South Korean GM Daewoo and a Vietnamese company.