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Trade - Service
Apr 11, 2019 / 16:10

Car sales in Vietnam up 31% y/y in first quarter

Nguyen Tung

Sales of domestically assembled cars reached 46,253 units in the January – March period, down 8% year-on-year, while imported completely-built-units (CBUs) were 31,999 units, up 234%.

The car market in Vietnam continue to go north, with 78,252 units sold in the first quarter, up 31% against the same period of last year, according to a report by Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA).
 
Car sales number in the first quarter. Source: VAMA.
Car sales number in the first quarter. Source: VAMA.
Upon breaking down, 58,882 were passenger cars, up 48% year-on-year; while 17,998 were commercial vehicles, up 1%; and 1,372 special-purpose vehicles, down 32%. 

Sales of domestically assembled cars reached 46,253 units in the January – March period, down 8% year-on-year, while imported completely-built-units (CBUs) were 31,999 units, up 234%. 
 
Car sales number in terms of domestically assembled cars and imported cars. Source: VAMA.
Car sales number in terms of domestically assembled cars and imported cars. Source: VAMA.
In March, car sales vplume reached 32,308 units, including 22,528 passenger cars, up 151% month-on-month; 8,917 commercial cars, up 170%; and 863 special-purpose vehicles, up 390%. 

The sales volume of locally assembled cars in March was reported at 19,769 units, up 157% month-on-month and imported cars 12,539, up 164%. 
 
However, the figure released by VAMA has not taken into account 6,061 units sold by Hyundai Thanh Cong, which is not a VAMA member. 

In the first three months of 2019, Hyundai Thanh Cong sold a total of 16,792 units, taking the overall car sales volume in the country to 95,042 units. 

Of the Vietnam’s car market in the January – March period, Toyota claimed the top spot of car sales number at 18,967, followed by Hyundai with 16,792 units, Mazda 9,497, Honda 8,687 and Kia 7,489. 

As of March 15, 2019, Vietnam imported 31,555 cars worth US$691 million, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC), posting a stark contrast of 2,953 cars imported in the first quarter of 2018 worth US$89 million. 

This resulted in over 10-fold year-on-year increase in the number of cars imported during this period, and 7.7-fold increase in import value. 

The low number of imported cars in the first quarter of 2018 was attributed to strict requirements stipulated in Decree No. 116, which came into force in early 2018, specifying the regulatory conditions and licenses for automobile manufacturing, assembling, importing, maintenance, and warranty businesses. Substantially, car importers are required to provide a type approval certificate.

Car importers later could fulfill this requirement to raise the number of imported cars, especially those from Thailand and Indonesia, largely because the automobile import tariff slips to 0% under the effect of the ASEAN trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), which came into effect in the beginning of 2018. 

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