Sales of automobiles rose in most segments during the first half of the year in comparison with the same period last year.

The all-new Vios continues to lead in sales in the Vietnamese market.

In its latest report, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturer' Association said that some 103,500 vehicles were sold in the Vietnamese market during the period, an increase of 58 per cent period-on-period. Sales included 45 per cent from small cars, 75 per cent in commercial vehicles and 136 per cent from special-purpose vehicles.

In June, the sale of passenger cars reached the highest volume in every segment with 9,796 units, a growth rate of 9.2 per cent compared with the previous month. Meanwhile, commercial car sales saw an increase of 0.5 per cent to 7,834 units, while special-purpose autos lost 8.1 per cent to 1,083 units.

As the purchasing power of passenger cars depended upon VAMA members, that of commercial and special-purpose vehicles increased for car importers.

The month also saw an unbalanced growth rate between locally-assembled complete knock down (CKD) and imported complete built units (CBU).

It was further reported that domestic sales reached 14,448 CKD units and 4,238 CBUs in June, increasing by 3 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.

According to Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV), a member of the VAMA, the company's total sales volume reached 4,289 units in June, increasing by 25 per cent compared to the previous month. This is also the highest sales volume of TMV in 2015.

Of note, the all-new Vios continued to lead in sales with 1,106 vehicles sold in the passenger car segment, 42 per cent higher than the same period last year.