VietNamNet Bridge – While the real estate market has become frozen, low-cost and medium-class product sales have been going very slowly, deluxe products still can be sold well in Vietnam, which has prompted the biggest fashion brands to flock to the country.

Hermes, a well-known French fashion brand, Rolls-Royce, the British car brand, Etihard Airways, the most luxurious airline in the world, and many other luxurious brands have been gearing up with their plans to land in Vietnam.

Hermes, which tops the 10 world’s leading fashion brands, has opened its second shop in Vietnam. Patrick Thomas, President of the famous fashion brand, in person arrived in HCM City to attend the opening ceremony, the event which is believed to show Hermes’ ambitious business plan in the Vietnamese market.

Outstripping many other big names in the fashion world, Hermes has been recognized by the world’s luxurious product association as the most luxurious brand. Hermes’ products of different kinds, from handbags to clothes all are the favorite choices of celebrities.

Hermes Berkin is considered the most successful product of the brand. The handbags have been sold at the exorbitant high prices of 10,000-150,000 dollars per unit. The women, who bear Hermes Berkin handbags, want to show to other people that they are rich and powerful. This is also the message the Vietnamese upper class wants to send to the opposites.

In 2008, the first Hermes shop in Vietnam was opened in Hanoi. The shop’s turnover has been witnessing steady growth rates of 20-30 percent since its opening, which showed the increasingly high demand for luxurious products from the rich people. This has prompted Hermes to expand its business in Vietnam.

Just some days after the opening of Hermes shop in HCM City, Etihad Airways, the most luxurious airline stated that it is following necessary procedures to open the direct air route from Abu Dhabi to HCM City, planning to open a representative office in Vietnam by 2013.

Etihad is an UAE’s air carrier which has been famous with giant aircraft and the super luxurious holds where each of seats costs 14,000-16,000 dollars.

Explaining the decision, Jamese Hogan, Managing Director of Etihad Airways said HCM City is an eventful city with diversified culture which has been always opened to tourists and businessmen. He believes that Vietnam would become an attractive destination for those, who have the demand to relax and seek business opportunities from all over the world.

Not only fashion and airline brands, car manufacturers have also been paying the special attention to the Vietnamese market. The distributor of BMW cars in Vietnam said Rolls-Royce and Mini would be present in Vietnam in one year. Though the car market in Vietnam has got cooled with the sharp falls of the sale of popular models, super cars still have been selling well.

Vietnam is one of the target markets for Rolls-Royce which has a plan to access millionaires in newly emerging markets such as Asia, South America, including Chile, Thailand and Vietnam. The brand plans to increase the number of sales agents from 105 to 120 in the next five years.

At present, Rolls-Royce still has not had authorized sales agents in Vietnam, but 60 cars bearing the famous brand have been rolling on the Vietnamese roads

Of the amount of cars, only one was imported to Vietnam through the official channel, while the others arrived in Vietnam through the diplomatic channel or imported as used cars.

Nhi Anh