Hyunda Motor became the best-selling car maker in Vietnam during the first half of this year, surpassing Toyota by a slight margin.

The South Korean automaker sold 25,358 units during the first six months of 2020, according to data from Hyundai and the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, with its Japanese rival trailing by 181 units.

Hyundai cars accounted for 21.3 percent of the market share, up 2.6 percentage points from the same time last year.

It marks the first time the car manufacturer’s share of the Vietnamese market has exceeded 20 percent since launching a production joint venture there in 2017.

The company’s market share in the Southeast Asian country has enjoyed a gradual increase in recent years, from 13.3 percent in 2017 to 18.7 percent in 2019.

While the overall demand in the market fell by over 27 percent amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Hyundai suffered a 17 percent drop.

In contrast, Toyota’s market presence fell to 21.1 percent during the first half of 2020, down from 25.5 percent in 2017.

Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing automobile markets in Southeast Asia, with total sales volume having grown from some 226,000 units in 2017 to 348,000 in 2019.

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)