Vehicles seen in a traffic congestion in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh. 

Auto sales in October hit 33,254 units, up 14.9 percent year-on-year, indicating car consumption is recovering to pre-pandemic levels. 

Of these, 76 percent were passenger cars, 22.6 percent were commercial vehicles and the rest were special-purpose vehicles, according to a report released by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA).

October auto sales was the highest monthly figure so far this year, the report said. It nearly tripled those of April when dealers had to shut down for the nationwide three-week social distancing campaign imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Total auto sales for the first 10 months, however, was down 18 percent year-on-year to 212,409 units.

Local brand Truong Hai Auto (Thaco) retained the top spot for the first 10 months with a 34.8 percent market share, with sales falling 5 percent to 71,144 units.

It was followed by Toyota with 49,950 units and Mitsubishi with 20,354 units, both representing double-digit declines.

Honda and Ford rounded off the top five auto sales list.

As demand began to recover, the major auto brands have cut or reduced the discounts they had offered almost throughout the year to pump up sales.

Dealers say the discount cuts also come as the year-end approaches. A 50 percent registration fee cut that the government has given as a crisis-mitigation measure will be discontinued at the end of the year.

Auto sales had risen 11.7 percent to 322,322 units last year.