Car sales in Vietnam last month rose around 65 percent over the same period last year, said the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) in its monthly report.

VAMA's report, covering sales of SUVs, passenger cars and commercial vehicles manufactured by 21 member companies, shows that sales for the entire local automotive industry in September reached 16,149 units, up 29 percent compared to August and 65 percent compared to the same period last year.

This is the 18th consecutive month that automobile sales in Vietnam have grown over the same period in the previous year.

Sales in the first nine months of 2014 jumped 34 percent from the same period last year to 90,108 units, VAMA said in its monthly report.

Car sales in September reached 10,511 units, up 30 percent compared to August, while truck sales reached 5,638 units, up 25 percent.

The production of locally-assembled cars reached 11,323 units, up 16 percent from the previous month, while the number of imported vehicles, or completely built units (CBU), stood at 4,917 units, up 73 percent.

Total automobile sales in Vietnam over the first nine months of the year reached 106,710 units, up 39 percent compared to the same period in 2013, while sales of cars reached 67,930 units, up 40 percent, and truck sales reached 38,780 units, up 36 percent.

By the end of September, sales of locally assembled vehicles had risen 30 percent compared to the same period last year to 79,754 units, while the sales of imported vehicles rose 30 percent year-on-year to 26,955 units.

With car sales continually increasing in the first nine months of this year, VAMA has raised its sales forecast in 2014 to 145,000 units, up 15,000 units from the previously forecast 130,000 units.

This is the third time this year VAMA has raised its forecast, the most times in the last three years. VAMA raised its outlook to 125,000 units from 120,000 units in March, and to 130,000 units in July.

With these latest figures, automobile sales in 2014 will increase 32 percent compared with 2013.

Regarding sales of vehicle manufactured by VAMA members, the number of units sold reached 12,940, up 53 percent compared to the same month last year. In total, since the beginning of the year, VAMA members have sold 90,108 vehicles, up 34 percent compared to the same period last year.

Among VAMA members, Truong Hai Automobile Co. (Thaco), specializing in assembling trucks, buses and sedans, continues to lead in the number of cars sold, with 4,195 vehicles moved, accounting for a market share of over 32 percent.

In the first nine months of the year, Thaco sold 28,701 vehicles, up almost 30 percent over the same period last year, reaching the sales target of over 35,000 vehicles it set earlier this year.

Toyota Vietnam ranked second by selling 3,747 vehicles in September, bringing total sales in the first nine months to 27,774 vehicles.

Third place went to Ford Vietnam with 1,390 vehicles sold in September, and 9,248 vehicles sold since the beginning of the year.

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