As at the middle of April, the number of car imported into Vietnam reached 4,936 units worth US$144 million, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVS).
Vietnam's car import value soars in first quarter.
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In the same period of last year, with the average import value of US$15,000 and 17,564 imported cars, the import turnover reached US$263 million. Taking into account all types of cars, the number of imported cars in last year's first quarter is estimated at 30,226 units.
Consequently, the number of imported cars in the first quarter has saw a slump at 83% compared to the first three months of last year.
The higher average car import value is due to the high unit price. In the first period of 2017, Vietnam also imported i10-class, but this year the market shifted to mainly class C such as Honda CR-V or Jazz.
Hyundai Thanh Cong has started assembling i10-class in Vietnam since May 2017. It was due to a large amount of i10-class to be imported to Vietnam along with its low unit price that the average car import value was lower than at present.
Meanwhile, a slump in the number of imported cars to Vietnam in the first period of 2018 was due to the impact of the Government's Decree No.116 116 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 as stipulated in the Decree No.116.
Car sales in March are reported at 21,127 units, including 12,858 passenger cars, 6,949 commercial cars and 1,320 special-purpose cars, according to sales report of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA).
From April onwards, it is expected that the number of imported cars from Thailand and Indonesia will be growing, resulting in the increasing in import turnover in the coming months, GSO forecasted.
Last year, a total of 272,750 units were sold, down 10% on-year, informed VAMA. The sales of passenger cars and commercial and special-use vehicles decreased by 15, 2, and 12%, respectively.
The falling sales were attributed to consumers' waiting for a decrease in automobile prices in early 2018 when the automobile import tariff will slip to 0% as the ASEAN trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) took effect in the beginning of 2018.
