The country spent over US$250 million importing 12,670 automobiles last month
Vietnam spent more than US$250 million importing over 12,600 completely built-up (CBU) automobiles, or 422 every day, last month, according to customs data announced earlier this week.
The General Department of Vietnam Customs said on Thursday that CBU imports surged 43 percent in September against a month earlier.
Specifically, Vietnam imported 12,670 automobiles, or 422 units daily, worth a total of $256 million last month.
The country had purchased 8,836 CBU autos from abroad, paying $202 million.
Most of the automobiles were shipped from Thailand, Indonesia, and China, according to the same customs data. These three markets made up 94 percent of the auto imports into Vietnam last month.
The customs department elaborated that cars of nine seats or fewer occupied more than 76 percent of the imports, or 9,732 units worth $164 million.
The number of such cars climbed by 3,596 units against August.
But the number of autos imported into Vietnam plunged 37 percent year on year to 66,465 vehicles in January-September over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Companies in Vietnam spent $384 million importing auto parts in September alone, 80 percent of which came from South Korea, Thailand, Japan, and China.
The import value for January-September amounted to $2.66 billion, down 13.5 percent year on year.
