The Vietnam automobile market was reported to be gradually heading up in recent months. However, the extent of the recovery remained unclear.

The assessment was made by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturer’s Association (VAMA) which also reported that sales of automobiles in April rose 4.8 percent over March and 26 percent over the same month last year, totalling more than 8,780 units.

For the four-month period more than 30,410 units were sold, an increase of 3 percent over the same period last year.

Members of VAMA also reported stable growth in April.

Toyota led the market with sales of 2,772 cars (up 14 percent), followed by Thaco Truong Hai with 2,270 units (up 11.2 percent) and Ford with nearly 700 units (up 38 percent).

In terms of one-month growth, VinaMazda, with sales of 225 cars, reported the highest growth (more than 700 percent), followed by Ford (216 percent), Mercedes-Benz (153 percent) and Toyota (63 percent).

An increase in demand for automobiles in recent months helped push up sales, said Truong Kim Phong, Sales and Marketing Director of Ford Vietnam .

A deputy director of a car manufacturer’s sales department attributed the increase in car sales to the April 1 registration fees cut, which reduced fees from 15-20 percent to 10-15 percent, paying this encouraged buyers, together with the loosened credits for automobiles.

VAMA raised its prediction of total car sales this year from 100,000 to about 103,000. However, the association said the recovery remained unclear, pointing out that April sales were 32 percent lower than the same month in 2011.-VNA