AsemconnectVietnam - Last year, Vietnam auto sales increased but motorbike sales saw decrease.

Also in 2019, Vietnam’s imports of cars increased sharply.

Vietnam’s auto sales in 2019 increased by 12 percent
Members of the Vietnam Auto Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) reported a year-on-year sales surge of 12 percent in 2019, riding on hefty festive discounts and promotional programmes.
Members of the Vietnam Auto Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) reported a year-on-year sales surge of 12 percent in 2019, riding on hefty festive discounts and promotional programmes.

VAMA said a total 320,322 vehicles were sold by its members in the year, with sales of passenger cars surging 20 percent.
However, the sales did not reflect the consumption power of the country’s entire automobile market, as the figure did not include sales of other manufacturers that are not VAMA members such as Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, and TC Motor (Hyundai Thanh Cong), among others.

TC Motor alone said it sold 79,568 units in 2019, up 25 percent from the previous year.
According to Managing Director of Ford Vietnam Pham Van Dung, the auto market will maintain a growth of 10-20 percent in 2020 thanks to abundant supply, hefty discounts to boost car sales, and the launch of various new car brands to meet demand of the consumers.

Besides, some conditions for automobile manufacturing, assembly, import, and warranty offering in the Government’s Decree No.116/2017/ND-CP are expected to be abolished or revised, thus cutting costs and procedures for domestic car dealers, helping the auto market have a banner year, he said.
Vietnam’s motorbike sales in 2019

The Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (VAMM) has said its five members, namely Honda, Piaggio, Suzuki, SYM, and Yamaha, sold over 3.25 million motorbikes in 2019, a year-on-year decline of 3.87 percent.
The Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (VAMM) has said its five members, namely Honda, Piaggio, Suzuki, SYM, and Yamaha, sold over 3.25 million motorbikes in 2019, a year-on-year decline of 3.87 percent.

Honda is making up nearly 81 percent of the sector’s market share with the most diverse range of products.
The five VAMM members are manufacturing and distributing nearly 100 models of motorcycles with prices ranging from tens of millions of VND to over one billion VND each.
Other domestic brands present in Vietnam’s motorcycle market are VinFast and Pega, as well as foreign firms such as Kymco, Ducacti, Kawasaki, BMW, KTM, Benelli, Harley Davidson, Triumph, Royal Enfield, and Motorrad.

According to insiders, as Vietnamese people’s incomes have increases, more customers have been switching to buying cars. Last year, 400,000 cars were sold at home, a record number over the past 20 years.
Air pollution in big cities has also made a large number of people use their personal cars or buses instead of motorbikes to ensure health and reduce traffic jam, experts said.

Vietnam’s imports of cars increased
In the first 11 months of 2019, Vietnam’s car imports increased by over 98 per cent in both volume and value over the same period of 2018.
The General Department of Customs estimated that the imports of cars in November of 2019 reached 11,743 units, valued at 266.68 million USD, down by 29.6 per cent in volume and 17.6 per cent in value compared to October of 2019. However, by the end of November 2019, the country’s total car imports still increased by over 98 per cent in both volume and value over the same period of 2018, reaching 133,696 units, worth of 2.96 billion USD. In particular, the imports of under - 9 - seat cars reached 99,261 units, increased by 2.3 times; transport cars - 28,427 units, up by 6.4 per cent.

The reason for the increase of imported cars was that from January 1, 2018, with the implementation of tariff agreements, particularly the ATIGA Agreement in ASEAN countries, the import tax on cars will decrease to 0 per cent. For other markets, the import tax on cars, ie with MFM, without FTA depending on the category is from 10 – 60 per cent, the highest is 70 per cent, so the competition between domestically manufactured cars with imported cars is very fierce.
In November 2019, CBU cars imported mainly from 5 main markets were Thailand - 5,807 units, Indonesia - 4,009 units, China 480 - units, Mexico - 472 units and Japan - 271 units. The number of cars imported from these 5 markets accounted for 94 per cent of total cars imported to Vietnam in November of 2019.

In November of 2019, the imports of under – 9 – seat cars reached 8,549 units, worth of 154.64 million USD, accounting for 72.8 per cent of the total number of CBU cars imported into Vietnam, a sharp decline of 32.3 per cent. (equivalent to a decrease of 4,077 units) compared to October of 2019, mainly originating from Indonesia with 5,141 units, down by 24.3 per cent and Thailand - 2,794 units, down by 28.3 per cent. In particular, the imports of cars through the port of Ho Chi Minh City reached 4,664 units, down by 35.5 per cent and Hai Phong - 3,859 units, down by 8.6 per cent.

The imports of above – 9 – seat cars in November of 2019 reached 5 cars imported through Hai Phong border gate, worth of 111,000 USD.
The imports of trucks in November of 2019 reached 2,309 units, worth of 56.4 million USD; fell by 24.8 per cent in volume and 8.1 per cent in value over the previous month, mainly through Ho Chi Minh City port - 1,203 units, down by 16.9 per cent; Hai Phong city - 685 units, down by 44.2 per cent. In particular, the imports of trucks from Thailand reached 1,215 units, down by 48.1 per cent and accounting for 53 per cent of the total number of vehicles of this type imported to Vietnam. Next, there were 666 units imported from Indonesia, increased by more than 2 times; and 206 units from China, 5 times more than in October of 2019.
Special-purpose cars in November 2019 imported 881 units, worth USD 55.6 million; of which 472 units from Mexico, accounting for 54% of the total number of vehicles of this type imported in the month, imported through Hai Phong port 358 units, up 30.2%; Ho Chi Minh City 232 units, down 32.8%.
CK
Source: VITIC/Vietnamplus.vn