Vietnam: Auto Sales Up

This is from VNA.

Any of the big three would just gasp at a 37 per cent sales growth. However the total numbers are much less impressive. For every car in Vietnam there are 21 motorbikes. Traffic must be fun in big cities such as Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).


Auto sales up, but downturn starts to bite
14/01/2009 -- 12:09 PM
Hanoi (VNA) – Most carmakers worldwide are bemoaning the nosedive in sales in 2008, while carmakers in Vietnam boasted a 37 percent sales growth last year.Despite falling sales in the last four months of the year, strong sales in the first seven months of the year was attributed to the overall growth rate, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA), which represents 17 leading automakers in the country. Total sales reached 110,186 units.Japanese-invested Toyota , topped the list with 24,421 units sold, up 21 percent year-on-year, followed by domestic truck and bus maker Vinamotor, with 20,887 units, up 281 percent.Kia assembler Truong Hai ranked third with 16,373 units sold, up 42 percent over the corresponding period last year.However, sales fell sharply in the last months of the year, as high inflation and new vehicle taxes at home and the global economic slowdown hit Vietnamese consumers.“Apart from the impact of the economic slowdown, a number of government policies such as the registration fee, have negatively affected the industry”, said former General Director of Toyota Vietnam , Nobuhiko Murakami.Only 9,293 vehicles were sold in December – the fourth month in a row when sales fell, and a drop of 23 percent against the same month of 2007.VAMA petitioned the government last month, asking for tax relief to help boost the sector.Dealers say demand will slow significantly in 2009 after the Government tripled registration fees up to 15 percent of a car’s purchase price from August last year, compounding the effects of the economic slowdown.Car ownership remains limited to the elite and emerging upper classes in the country. Vietnam has about 1 million privately-owned cars, compared to over 21 million motorbikes

Meanwhile back in Vietnam auto sales soar..

This is from vnagency.
It seems as if price increases are hitting Vietnam even though auto sales are increasing. The Vietnamese stock market is apparently in the doldrums as well. However, there is no news of the sort of protests over declining stock prices of the type that is happening in Pakistan.

April sets another record in auto sales
13/05/2008 -- 12:48 PM
Hanoi (VNA) -- Vietnamese people seemed to be rushing to buy cars before a possible further price hike, as 13,271 units, up 183 percent year on year, were sold last month, breaking the previous month’s record of 13,081 units.The jump was fuelled by outstanding sales of commercial vehicles, which reached 8,185 units, up 248 percent, the Viet Nam Auto Manufacturers Association (VAWA) reported.While the passenger car segment saw a 116 percent boost with 2,221 units, multi-purpose vehicles and sport utility vehicles (MPV/SUV) experienced a 119 percent jump with 2,865 units.On the company’s rankings list, truck and bus manufacturer Vinamotor once again led the line with 3,520 units, accounting for 27 percent of the market share, followed by Toyota and Truong Hai with 2,265 and 2,016 units, respectively, accounting for 17 and 15 percent of the market share.The overall sales of VAWA members in the first four months of the year climbed to 47,366 units, up 181 percent over the corresponding period last year.Meanwhile, the country imported some 12,000 complete built unit (CBU) autos in the first quarter of the year, up 35 percent year-on-year, according to the General Office of Statistics.A number of tariff adjustments were made last month as part of a Government drive to reduce traffic congestion by curbing the mass importation of automobiles into the country, and to reduce the trade deficit.The Ministry of Finance on April 2 raised the import tariff on CBUs from 60 percent to 70 percent and from 70 percent to 83 percent a few days later.While the import tariff on auto parts and components for local assembly was also increased by 3-5 percent, the tariff on used cars was also raised twice this year.The continuous hike of import tariffs on CBUs is believed to have raised not only the price of imported autos, but also the price of locally-assembled autos.As a result, while several car importers have raised their sales prices to cope with the new tariffs, Toyota Viet Nam last week was the first local car assembler to announce a price hike for its fleet, ranging from 100 USD to 700 USD, depending on the models.-