Buyers of pickup trucks will pay an extra fee from April 10 as registration fees for pickups have been adjusted up in line with Government Decree 20, issued on February 21 to amend and supplement some articles of Decree 140 on vehicle registration fees.

A pickup on display at an exhibition in HCMC 

The new decree prescribes that the fee for pickup trucks and vans with carriage capacity of less than 1,500 kilograms and fewer than five seats when being registered for the first time will be equal to 60% of the first registration fee for passenger vehicles with under nine seats, which are subject to fees of 10%-12%.

Meanwhile, the current ownership tax rate for pickup trucks and vans is only 2% of the value of the vehicle, resulting in a high number of these vehicles being sold in recent years.

In fact, pickup trucks are popularly used as vehicles with fewer than nine seats, enjoying unrestricted access to circulate in urban centers indefinitely.

As a result, the new decree is aimed at ensuring fairness for cars with fewer than nine seats.

When the regulation comes into force, spending on a pickup may increase from 6% to 9% against the current prices, according to sellers’ calculations.

A salesman at a dealership of Ford Vietnam said that customers buying a 2.0L AT 4x4 version of the Ford Ranger pickup, worth VND918 million, in HCMC, which is subject to a 10% ownership tax for passenger vehicles under nine seats, are required to pay a registration fee of 2%, equivalent to VND18.36 million.

However, under the new decree, the buyers will have to pay some VND55 million for the first registration fee, the highest level ever, the salesman added.

Meanwhile, if customers register to buy a pickup in the cities of Hanoi, Danang or Haiphong, they will have to pay the higher fee as the three cities are facing the current rate of 12% for passeneger vehicles. Accordingly, buyers will have to pay some VND66.09 million for the first registration of a 2.0L AT 4X4 Ranger pickup.

As a result of the increase in the registration fee, consumption of pickups is expected to rise strongly from now until early April as customers will rush to buy pickups before the decree takes effect.

SGT