HANOI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is estimated to consume 2.5 million motorbikes this year, up from 2.2 million units last year, a local industry association said Monday.

    Foreign-invested motorbike firms in the country, Honda Vietnam, Yamaha Vietnam, Suzuki Vietnam and SYM, recorded total domestic sales of 174,000 motorbikes in January and 128,000 units in February, posting respective year-on-year rises of 29 percent and 28 percent, according to the latest statistics from the Vietnam Motorbike and Bicycle Association.

    Vietnam spent 572 million U.S. dollars importing motorbikes, components and spare parts in the first 10 months of this year, up 34.6 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office. Specifically, it imported 105,000 motorbikes worth 111 million dollars, seeing respective year-on-year surges of 124.2 percent and 87.7 percent.

    Over two million motorbikes were registered in Vietnam in the first eight months of this year, raising the total number of the vehicles on roads to nearly 20.6 million, according to the Vietnam Register.

    The number of motorbikes on the country's roads is expected to increase to 25 million by 2010, about 31 million by 2015 and 35 million by 2020, said the association.