New Vehicle Sales Up 59% On Year In December

New vehicle sales in Vietnam rose 59% in December, figures released Thursday by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association show.

Sales of new cars, trucks and buses--including imports and locally produced vehicles--increased to 15,065 units from 9,497 units a year earlier.

Compared with November, sales were up 23%, the association said.

"Car sales jumped because local buyers rushed to buy to avoid an increase in tax from 2010, which will make car prices at least 10% higher," said analyst Le Van Tam with Hanoi Automobile Trading Co.

He noted that the Ministry of Finance doubled the value-added tax to 10% from 5%, effective Jan. 1.

According to government data, Vietnam imported 76,282 fully assembled vehicles valued at $1.17 billion last year, compared with 50,400 units valued at $1.03 billion in 2008.

Imports of vehicles and parts last year were worth a combined $2.943 billion, up 2.5% from a year earlier.

The following is a breakdown of total new automobile sales for 2009:

2009 % Change Toyota 30,110 +23 Honda 4,215 -29 GM Daewoo 14,200 +29 VMC (including BMW, Mazda and Kia) 784 +50 Vina Star (incl. Mitsubishi and Proton) 3,666 +25 Ford 8,286 +28 Mercedes 3,399 +60 Isuzu 2,997 -11 Mekong (incl. Fiat, Iveco and S-Young) 616 -62 Visuco (Suzuki) 2,669 -11 Hino 2,199 -18 Samco 482 +3 Truong Hai 21,617 +22 Vinacomin 256 -34 Vinaxuki 8,680 +8 Vinamotor 15,284 -28 Total 119,460 +7.