Vietnam imported 12,000 CBU (completely built unit) automobiles in May, up 33 percent compared to April and 12 percent over the same period last year, reported the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.
The number worth US$195 million took the total automobiles imported in the first five months of this year to 41,000 worth US$927 million.
According to businesses, auto shops and consumers have rushed up purchase for the last recent months to avoid a coming increase in special consumption tax rate.
From July 1, the tax rate will surge to 55 percent on vehicles with the cylinder capacity of 2.5 liters and up, 90 percent on types of above 3 liters and 130-150 percent on automobiles of 4-6 liters.
Only those with the capacity of less than 2 liters will see the tax rate reduce by 5 percent.
It is expected that the tax hike will increase luxury car prices by few hundreds to billions of Vietnamese dong.
