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Five-seat cars see record sales in August
Domestic manufacturers of five-seat cars saw splendid sales in August: 3,528 five-seaters were sold in the month, a new sales record.
Statistics released by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) showed that in the first six months of the year, Vietnamese automobile manufacturers sold only 2,200 five-seaters a month, but sales exceeded 3,000 cars a month in July and August.
The above number of sold cars represents a 50 percent increase in comparison with the same period of 2008 and an increase of 887 sold units in comparison with June and 336 units in comparison with July.
In August 2009, the total sales of the members of VAMA were 10,555 cars, a slight decrease from July 2009, but a 31 percent increase over August 2008.
Car sales in the first eight months of 2009 reportedly decreased by 19 percent over the same period of 2008. The sales of passenger cars increased by three percent, while the sales of 4WD/MPV and commercial vehicles decreased by 18 percent and 28 percent, respectively.
However, the sales of some big brand names still saw strong growth rates in comparison with the same period of last year. GM Daewoo, for example, reported the sales increase of 66 percent, Vinastar 172 percent, Mercedes 23 percent, Toyota 18 percent, while Ford a humble three percent.
Toyota Motor Vietnam still continues leading in terms of number of cars sold. The Corolla Atis witnessed impressive sales in August with 865 units sold, an increase of 145 units over July. The sharpest increase was seen in the sales of Corolla Atis 1.8 with 703 units sold, an increase of 132 units over July.
While less than 200 units were sold a month in the first quarter of 2009, the figure jumped to 300-400 units a month in the second quarter.
GM Daewoo has also seen a strong growth rate in sales of passenger cars. The manufacturer sold 447 Sparks in August, and though a decrease of three units from July, it was still a significant number.
Spark LT 0.8 saw the highest increase in sales with 401 units sold, an increase of 68 units over July. 365 Lacetti EX1.6 were consumed, 64 more than in July.
Other manufacturers, though having sold numbers far below those of the two manufacturers, still saw relatively high growth rates. For example, the sold number of under five-seat cars of Ford, including Focus and Mondeo, increased by 72 units over July, reaching 88.
As for luxury, cars, Mercedes sold 84 units in August, higher than the 64 units in July. Only six C200k E units were sold in July, while the figure jumped to 33 in August.
Nguyen Quang Minh, sales director of GM Daewoo, said that the manufacturer has stopped signing new contracts on selling some car models in 2009.
Pham Huyen
vietnamnet
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