Cambodia's imports of vehicles surged more than 60 percent in the first half of the year, Ministry of Commerce statistics show.

Imports of vehicles, including motorbikes and cars, totalled 335,131 units in the first six months, from 208,611 units in the period last year, the data shows.

Toyota (Cambodia) Company Chairman Kong Nuon said yesterday the firm’s imports had bounced back following a downturn caused by the March 11 earthquake in Japan.

“Year on year growth in demand from customers is high,” he said. “When the disaster happened in Japan, we didn’t have autos to supply our customers. Now, everything is back to normal.”

The company targets sales of more than 550 Toyota vehicles this year.

Phnom Penh’s motorbike dealers said they had also seen an increase in 2011.

“This year, I can sell 50 motorbikes a month, compared to 30 a month last year,” said Kim Chhay, owner of Kim Chhay Motorcycle Shop in 7 Makara district.

“Our business has been very good as the economy gets better, and Cambodian people earn plenty from their havest of crops such as rice, cassava and corn,” he said.

As of June, Cambodia had 1.49 million motorcycles and about 300,000 cars, buses and trucks, according to a report obtained from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport’s Overland Transport Department obtained by The Post yesterday.