VietNamNet Bridge – The majority of car manufacturers have decided to label their products with yellow tags instead of green ones, according to the Vietnam Register (VR).

Manufacturers and importers have begun the energy labeling for vehicles with less than 7 seaters, as requested by new regulation.

The new regulation stipulates that from January 1, 2015, brand-new domestically assembled and imported cars must be labelled with energy labels before selling to consumers.

Two kinds of energy labels – green and yellow – are used to show the fuel consumption level of the cars.

The green one shows the fuel consumption index certified by Vietnamese watchdog agencies that test the vehicles.

The fuel consumption testing is performed independently or simultaneously with the technical safety and environmental-protection certification.

The yellow label shows the energy consumption index, provided by car manufacturers and importers, without certification by watchdog agencies.

Three months ago, when the Ministry of Transport released the Circular No 43 on energy labeling, some automobile manufacturers complained that the requirement was too onerous, as it would take too much time and money.

However, by late 2014, automobile manufacturers said they were ready for the labeling.

An official from VR said over 200 car models have been labeled by the manufacturers and importers, including Audi, Honda, BMW, Suzuki, Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, Renault, Mazda, Peugeot, Mini, Kia, Ford, Porsche, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Chevrolet and Hyundai.

However, he noted that most of the manufacturers and importers chose the yellow label for 180 car models of 17 brands.

As for the yellow labeling cases, the VR only examined the validity of the documents submitted and the experimental methods reported by manufacturers and importers, while it did not carry out any tests to examine information about fuel consumption figures provided by enterprises.

Only 26 car models of four brands have been labeled green, which means they have been examined and certified by watchdog agencies.

In principle, both the yellow and green labelled cars can be legally put into circulation. However, the yellow label will be no longer be used in Vietnam from early 2017.

An analyst noted that most of the manufacturers choosing yellow labels showed test results provided by their headquarters overseas.

Meanwhile, in principle, there always exists the difference between testing in Vietnam and overseas because of the differences in climate conditions, time, roads and the environment.

As such, the green labelled cars are believed to be more suitable to Vietnamese conditions.

The current regulation only requires enterprises to make public information about fuel consumption, while it does not set the maximum possible consumption level.

Mai Thanh