Vietnam's vehicle manufacturers sold a combined 16,399 units in March, up 62 percent from the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA).

Of the figure, 9,416 were cars, representing a 6 percent month-on-month increase, while trucks made up 6,983 units, 104 percent higher than the sales recorded in February.

Thaco, a domestic car manufacturer, retained its market leadership with 5,973 sales, or a 101 percent increase from last month and a 79 percent increase from March 2014.

Japanese manufacturer Toyota came in second with 2,231 sales, followed by US manufacturer Ford with 1,400 sales – a 51 percent surge from February.

With 529 sold vehicles in March, GM Vietnam superseded Japan’s Honda to be among the top four highest auto sales in in Vietnam.

Statistics from VAMA also showed 12,877 domestically-assembled vehicles in March, up 63 percent from the previous month. Correspondingly, the number of imported vehicles was 3,522 units, down 20 percent from February.-VNA