Vietnam's motorbike import rises 41.5 pct in 2 months

HANOI, March 6 (Xinhua) -- VIETNAM spent 114 million U.S. dollars importing motorbikes, components and spare parts in the first two months of this year, surging 41.5 percent against the same period last year, according to the country's Ministry of Industry and Trade on Wednesday.

In February alone, VIETNAM poured 50 million dollars into importing the products, up 55.6 percent against January.

VIETNAM, known as a motorcycle kingdom in the world, spent 647 million dollars importing motorbikes, components and spare parts in 2018, up 45.2 percent against 2017.

Last year, the country posted motorbike sales of nearly 3.4 million vehicles, breaking the record of 3.3 million units in 2011, said the VIETNAM Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers whose members include Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Piaggio and SYM.

Although VIETNAM's Hanoi capital has decided to ban motorbikes from running in its urban districts from 2030, the local motorcycle market will remain stable in the near future, the association forecast.