HANOI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Auto sales in Vietnam from January to September 2016 hit 214,403 units, setting a new record for a nine-month period and posting a year-on-year increase of 31 percent, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) on Wednesday.
According to VAMA, in September alone, the country sold 26,551 auto units, up 13 percent against August and 24 percent year-on-year.
This figure included 16,327 cars; 9,117 commercial vehicles, and 1,107 special-use vehicles, up 9 percent, 21 percent and 15 percent over the previous month, respectively.
VAMA noted that sales of locally-assembled cars went up 17 percent over August to 20,566 units, while sales of imported vehicles remained almost unchanged at 5,985 units.
Among the figure of total auto consumption in the January-September, sale of locally-assembled vehicles went up 29 percent, while that of completely-built up units climbed 10 percent year-on-year.
Most of automakers also reported strong performance in the year to date, said VAMA.
Auto traders project that the local auto market will continue to expand in the rest of this year, as consumers tend to buy more autos towards the end of the year.
Last year, Vietnam's auto sales hit 245,000 units, which also set a new record for the local auto consumption. Earlier, VAMA had expected sales growth of 10-15 percent for 2016.
