On May 30, the Hai Phong Customs Sub-agency Zone 2 released a notice, requesting the owners of two luxury cars - Mercedes Benz GLS 63 and Mercedes-AMG G63 – to come to the agency to make customs declarations and get clearance.

The former is being stored at Nam Hai Dinh Vu Port in Hai Phong City, while the latter is docked at Tan Cang International Port and is being stored at Nam Hai Le Chan Port.

The two cars were carried to the ports in October 2018, but no one has turned up over the last five years to receive the cars. Meanwhile, the SUV model Mercedes-AMG G63 is considered a ‘hot’ product, now very favored, and is worth no less than VND10 billion.

Prior to that, in early May, the Dinh Vu Port Customs Sub-agency released a notice on finding the owners of Rolls-Royce Cullinan with VIN number: SCATF2108NU212867. The super car was left at Tan Cang – Hai Phong International Container Port in July 2022.

The customs agency reported that the sender of the car was Hollman International (Germany) and the recipient was ASC Investment JSC, headquartered at BT02-09 Trung Van Urban Area in Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi.

It is a super luxury car favored by wealthy Vietnamese, which has the market price of VND40 billion. It is unclear why the car, called the ‘diamond’, has been left unused at the port for years.

It is no longer a surprise that some luxury cars dock at Vietnam’s ports and have no owners. Though the cars are beautiful, expensive and fashionable, they are abandoned by their owners.

In early 2022, in Da Nang, the customs agency was looking for the owner of a Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4 Spyder left at Tien Sa Port. The car was imported to Vietnam as a gift from a company in Hong Kong.

Only half a year later, the owner of the car turned up at the customs agency. However, because of problems in import procedures, the party decided to re-export the luxury car.

In 2020, the customs agency at Dinh Vu Port said it was seeking the owners of a series of luxury cars (Ferrari and Lamborghini) which were ‘forgotten’ at the port. 

As no one turned up, the agency decided to organize auctions to sell the cars with the starting price of VND1.3-3.5 billion.

No official explanation has been offered about why the owners of the cars give up the expensive cars. However, some car dealers attribute this to ministries’ tightened control over car imports under the form of gifts. 

The tightening of control aims to ensure that car owners don’t make a false statement about car prices to evade tax.

V.H, who introduced himself as an experienced imported car dealer in Hanoi, said the number of luxury cars imported to Vietnam under the form of gifts accounts for a large proportion. However, as the imports violate regulations on import procedures, owners cannot get the cars cleared, and they give up the cars.

There are two major ways for luxury cars to come to Vietnam, either under the form of gifts or as official imports from manufacturers or suppliers.  

Some imported cars will be registered with the number plates of diplomatic agencies, but the number of these cars is very limited. Meanwhile, the remaining cars have to wait for clearance. For the time being, car dealers have to seek foreign buyers to sell the cars, and before they find such clients, the cars are temporarily left at ports.

Also according to H, to get these imports cleared in Vietnam, the receivers have to make customs declarations and have to pay many different kinds of taxes and fees, including import tax (50-70 percent), luxury tax based on the value of the cars (after calculating import tax, 40-150 percent), VAT (10 percent of all taxes, fees and car values combined). In addition, they have to pay corporate income tax, vehicle registration tax, number plate granting fee and others.

“The taxes and fees of different kinds car owners have to pay could be 3-4 times higher than the initial values of the cars. Therefore, they have to sell the cars at very high prices to make profits, and before car dealers can find buyers, who accept high prices, they won’t receive the cars,” H explained.

Hoang Hiep