A total of 23,065 automobiles were sold in the domestic market in May, up 9 percent against the previous month, reported the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA).

Of the figure, 15,397 are passenger cars, showing a month-on-month increase of 13 percent. Meanwhile, 6,890 commercial and 778 special-purpose vehicles were sold in May, down 8 percent and 36 percent, respectively.

In terms of origin, the number of domestically-assembled vehicles was 19,467 and that of imported automobiles was 3,598, representing month-on-month rises of 9 percent and 12 percent respectively.

According to the VAMA, as many as 103,746 vehicles of all types were sold in the domestic market in the first five months of 2018, down 6 percent over the same period last year.

The sales of passenger cars saw an annual rise of 6 percent while the sales of commercial and special-purpose vehicles suffered respective year-on-year declines of 19 percent and 37 percent.

In the January-May period, a total of 87,426 domestically-assembled vehicles were handed over to buyers, up 10 percent against the same period last year. The sales of imported automobiles dropped 46 percent to 16,320.

According to experts, the strong fall of imported cars in the five-month period was due to businesses’ failure to complete procedures as requested in the Government’s Decree No.116/2017/ND-CP, which stipulates the conditions for production, assembly, import and business of automobiles, and their warranty and maintenance services.

No batch of cars was imported in Vietnam in the first two months of 2018, according to the VAMA. 

In March 2018, only Honda Vietnam imported the first batch of automobiles which are subject to zero percent import duty under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), which became effective from January 1, 2018. At the end of April, these cars were put for sale.

In April, GM Vietnam imported a batch of Chevrolet Trailblazer for distribution, and was put for sale in early May.

Various car models of popular brands such as Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet, and Suzuki will be imported into Vietnam in late June and July, creating fierce competition between domestically-assembled and imported cars.-VNA