Car sales in Vietnam last August fell 17 percent from the previous month (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Car sales in Vietnam last August fell 17 percent from the previous month to 23,540 units, attributable to consumers’ unwillingness to do big business like car purchases in the “Ghost Month”.
The data were released by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) on September 12. It comprises retail sales of VAMA members and completely built-up units (CBUs) imports of non-VAMA members.
Insiders said August coincided with the seventh lunar month, traditionally called the “Ghost Month”, during which many people believe that it would be unlucky to start building houses or buying cars which are big assets to them.
In August, 15,033 passenger cars and 7,547 commercial vehicles were sold, representing respective monthly decreases of 14 percent and 22 percent. The number of special-purpose vehicles sold was 960, down 17 percent.
Both domestically assembled cars and imported CBUs shared the same 17-percent decline to 17,531 and 6,009 respectively.
From January to August, total auto sales rose by 32 percent from a year earlier. The respective volumes of sold passenger, commercial and special-purpose vehicles hiked 30 percent, 33 percent and 46 percent year on year.
The sales of domestically assembled cars enjoyed a 35-percent rise while that of imported ones climbed 25 percent compared to the same period last year, VAMA said.-VNA
