HANOI, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam spent 396 million U.S. dollars importing motorbikes, and their components and spare parts in the first eight months of this year, posting a year-on-year rise of 36.4 percent on-year, the General Department of Vietnam Customs said on Friday.

In August, Vietnam spent 65 million U.S. dollars importing motorbikes, and their components and spare parts, up 8.3 percent against July.

Vietnam, known as a motorcycle kingdom in the world, saw a year-on-year growth of nearly 3.9 percent in motorcycle sales in the first half of this year to nearly 1.6 million units, according to the Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (VAMM).

Over 3.2 million motorcycles were sold by VAMM's member companies, including Honda Vietnam, Yamaha Vietnam, Piaggio Vietnam, Suzuki Vietnam and SYM Vietnam in 2017, up 4.8 percent against 2016.

Although Vietnam has decided to ban motorbikes from running in its urban districts of Hanoi from 2030, the local motorcycle market will remain stable in the near future, VAMM forecast.