HANOI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's total automobile sales in the first quarter of this year were 59,558 units, a year-on-year drop of 8 percent, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association said on Tuesday.

Specifically, sales of passenger cars decreased 4 percent, those of commercial vehicles such as trucks, pick-ups and vans, declined 11 percent, and those of special-purpose vehicles fell 40 percent.

Sales of domestically assembled automobiles rose 8 percent to 50,049 units, while those of imported ones fell 48 percent to 9,509 units, said the association.

In the January-March period, Vietnam imported completely-built automobiles and components for assembly totaling 886 million U.S. dollars, down 32.9 percent year-on-year. Specifically, the country imported 5,600 completely-built automobiles worth 150 million U.S. dollars, witnessing declines of 78.9 percent and 69.4 percent, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Few automobiles, especially cars, were imported to Vietnam in the period because traders were not well-prepared to comply with a new governmental decree which requires traders to provide more relevant certificates and undergo more tests than before, explained local experts.

Last year, Vietnam's total automobile sales were 272,750 units, said the association.

This year, total vehicle sales will increase to over 284,400 units, global research company BMI Research forecast, explaining that passenger car demand will be driven by reduction in tax rates on vehicles with engine sizes of 2.0 liters or less, and elimination of tariffs on completely-built units from ASEAN member countries in January.