Carmakers in Vietnam believe that the market for Vietnamese automobiles has a bright future although it will face hardships after Vietnam joins the WTO.
“Vietnam is a good market for automakers due to a high and stable economic growth rate, increasing per capita and very low vehicle ownership ratio,” Nguyen Van Quy, a representative of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), said at the opening seminar at the Vietnam Motor Show 2006 on October 27.
“There is only one automobile for every 120 people in Vietnam with a huge population of more than 84 million people,” Quy added.
The Vietnamese Government considers the automotive industry one of its key developing industries in needs of financial and technological supports from foreign investors, he said.
The Vietnamese car industry is hoping for a market of 150,000 cars each year but the current market size is around 60,000 units.
However, the small market size, poor transport infrastructure, insufficient supporting industry and high tax policy pose challenges for the industry, he noted.
The entry of used cars will cause more difficulties for local fledging industry, which began just 15 years or so ago.
To facilitate demand and of course expand the market size, incentive policies must be issued to attract investment into supporting industry while infrastructure system must be improved, Quy concluded.
According to the VAMA, its 16-carmaker members sold only nearly 26,900 automobiles in the first nine months of this year. VAMA members are now dominating the Vietnamese car industry.
VNS
Vietnamese
