Vietnam July car sales drop 13 pct yr/yr - industry

Aug 10 (Reuters) - Car sales in Vietnam dropped in July for the first time in four months, falling 13 percent from last July to 9,439 vehicles, but Japan's Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) retained its top position, an industry association said.

Toyota sold 2,452 cars last month, a 12 percent dip from July 2009, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association said in its monthly report.

Car sales last dropped in March when they fell 16 percent to around 9,300 units following a slump in holiday-shortened February.

The association gave no reasons for the fall in July, but it said sales of sport utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles and crossovers had the largest annual fall of 20 percent.

Overall, Vietnam's car industry sold 59,717 vehicles between Janaury and July, an increase of 2 percent from the same period last year, the association said.

The sales data from 16 manufacturers operating in Vietnam also included passenger cars.

Car imports, which have been limited by the government as part of measures to reduce the country's trade deficit, rose 19.5 percent in the first seven months of 2010 from a year earlier to $1.57 billion, government statistics show.