The General Statistics Office (GSO) has released a list of the 44 major import items in the first quarter of 2017, in which the volume and value of imported completely-built-unit (CBU) motor vehicles stood at their highest ever.

The total volume of imported vehicles was 28,000, up 43 per cent, worth $460 million. 

CBUs of less than nine seats accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the total, at 19,000 units, up 169 per cent in volume and 82 per cent in value year-on-year.

Motor car imports and prices have attracted public attention in recent times. 

Purchases have increased sharply, with import taxes being cut or eliminated under Vietnam’s commitments to market liberalization.

The GSO reported that, as at March 15, Vietnam had imported more than 21,700 CBUs, of which more than 14,400, or 66 per cent, were motor cars. 

According to customs declarations, the average price was nearly VND400 million ($17,564) and just over VND315 million ($13,832) for motor cars.

Imports have increased 3.8-fold over the four years from March 2013 to March 2017, reaching more than 16,000 units, in which motor cars rose 4.5-fold, to more than 11,200 units. 

The average price of an imported motor car has fallen since 2013, from VND458 million ($20,110) to VND400 million ($17,564), or VND59 million ($2,591).

As at March 15, the total number of imported motor vehicles increased by more than 16,000 units, of which more than 11,200 were motor cars, or 70 per cent compared to the same period of 2013.

In early 2017, the impact of reducing import taxes on motor cars originating from ASEAN from 40 per cent to 30 per cent resulted in a large number of vehicles from Thailand and Indonesia arriving in Vietnam.

VN Economic Times