Vietnam’s new vehicle market expanded by 20% to 31,351 units in March 2026 from 26,079 units in the same month last year, according to wholesale data released by the Vietnam Automotive Manufacturers Association (VAMA). The data do not include some major players in the market, including domestic automaker VinFast, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and other overseas brands.

The market last month resumed its strong upward trajectory, following a 9% decline in the previous month due mainly to the Lunar New Year holidays. Government data show the Vietnamese economy expanded by 7.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, slightly down from peak growth of 8.5% in the fourth quarter of 2025.

In the first three months of 2026, the vehicle market expanded by 30% to 76,790 units from 58,936 units in the same period last year, driven by strong, broad-based economic growth in the country. Sales of light passenger vehicles increased by 29% to 52,484 units in this period, while commercial vehicle sales increased by 32% to 24,306 units. Truong Hai (Thaco) Group, the local assembler and distributor of several overseas brands and a major player in the commercial vehicle segment, reported a 23% sales increase to 23,483 units in this period. This includes a 16% increase in Thaco commercial vehicle sales to 6,301 units, while Mazda sales rose by 28% to 8,101 units and Kia sales were up by 28% to 8,076 units.

Toyota reported a 43% surge in sales to 16,885 units year-to-date, while Ford’s sales rose by 28% to 12,132 units; Mitsubishi 11,909 units (+50%); and Honda 5,603 units (-8%). Hyundai reported separately that its sales rose by 18% to 13,498 units in this period, while VinFast’s sales surged by 53% to 53,684 units.

GlobalData expects sales of light vehicles in Vietnam to increase by over 4% to 587,000 units this year, after growing by 20% to 562,000 units in 2025, driven by continued strong economic growth and rising consumer demand. The Vietnamese government announced last year that it will continue to exempt battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from the vehicle registration tax until the end of February 2027, while in January the sales tax on hybrid vehicles was cut by 30%.