Automobile joint ventures in Vietnam posted sales of 19,214 units in the first 7 months of this year, up 21 percent over the same period last year.

Specifically, the 11 joint ventures sold 6,663 automobiles with 6-15 seats each, up 37 percent, and 2,940 buses and trucks, up 12 percent, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) told Xinhua on Monday.

Growth in bus and truck sales will slow down, since demand for the vehicles in big cities is near saturation, many local traders predicted.

Automakers in the country are launching more vehicles with 7-8 seats, which are suitable to demand of families or enterprises, the traders said.

In the 7-month period, Vietnam spent 607 million US dollars importing automobiles, and their components and spare parts, posting a year-on-year surge of 43.4 percent. Specifically, it imported 12,000 completely built automobiles worth 172 million dollars, down 4.2 percent in volume but up 5.7 percent in value.

Under a strategy to develop Vietnam's automobile industry to 2010 approved by the government in late 2002, the country will encourage all economic sectors to produce components, especially those of engines, on large scale. Projects on manufacturing common- and special-use vehicles like buses, light lorries, tank trucks and ambulances are to enjoy incentives in terms of land, loan, technology transfer, and research and development.

Vietnam has so far this year licensed two automobile projects: a 60 million dollar project with annual capacity of 10,000 units of Honda Vietnam, and a 70 million dollar project with annual capacity of 15,000 trucks and buses of a Malaysia-Vietnam joint venture.

The country now houses 13 automobile joint ventures with total registered capital of nearly 700 million dollars and combined annual capacity of 173,000 units, the VAMA said.

Source: Xinhua