Vietnam Auto Sales Fall 36 per cent On-Year in Q1

Low domestic demand has reportedly caused auto sales in Vietnam to drop by 36 per cent on-year to 21,839 units in the first quarter this year, according to the latest statistics released by the Vietnam Association of Automobile Manufacturers (VAMA).

 

On-year decrease was led by sales of commercial vehicles, which were down 54 per cent from a year ago, while passenger car sales reducing 32 per cent to 3,764 units, the association said.

 

The statistics also showed that local carmakers sold       11,316 units in March, down 14 per cent from a year ago, but up 69.6 per cent on-month as consumers rushed to auto agents to acquire vehicles to avoid the higher luxury tax that took effect as of April 1 this year.

 

Analysts believed that the effective luxury tax law has triggered a new price increase in Vietnam’s automobile market and domestic market would continue witnessing slow sales in the time to come, especially for vehicles with 6-9 seats.

 

On the same trend, Vietnam was estimated to have imported 6,000 completely-built cars worth US$102 million in the period, down 71.2 per cent on year in volume and 72.4 per cent in value, the Government Statistics Office said.

 

Following table is the breakdown of car sales, market shares and the growth of the 17 VAMA carmakers in January-March 2009.

 

No	Car marker	Sale (Unit)	On Year Growth ( per cent)
1	Vinamotor*	3,285	-57
2	Toyota	5,326	-5
3	Truong Hai	3,111	-43
4	Vinaxuki	1,531	-51
5	GM Daewoo	2,213	-28
6	Ford	1,700	-24
7	Honda	919	-40
8	VinaStar (Mitsubishi)	1,088	+6
9	Isuzu*	754	-32
10	Visuco (Suzuki)	408	-50
11	Mekong (Fiat, Ssangyong, PMC)	263	-62
12	Hino*	129	-77
13	Mercedes-Benz Vietnam	712	+34
14	SAMCO	80	-66
15	VMC (BMW, Mazda, Kia)	309	+63
16	Vinacomin – Vinacoal*	11	-92
	Total	21,839	-36

 

Note: *: not including bus chassis. (VAMA Release March 2009, GSO)