Viet Nam’s Auto Purchase Index (API) declined to 14.6 in the first quarter from 15.5 as consumers plan to delay purchases until 2018 when the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement eliminates tariffs on cars imported from the regional countries.
This information is part of the ASEAN Auto Purchase survey, which was announced recently by the Financial Times Confidential Research (FTCR) on www.ft.com.
The survey is based on interviews with 5,000 consumers in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam.
The FTCR’s first quarter survey of the ASEAN auto market indicates healthy demand for the rest of the year across the region’s largest five economies. The API, which measures six-month outlook for auto sales, ticked upwards in Indonesia and Thailand and showed small declines in Malaysia, the Philippines and Viet Nam.
It said sales growth in Viet Nam fell to single digits this year after soaring by 29.4 per cent in 2016 and 56.7 per cent in 2015.
“We expect the index for Viet Nam to swing upwards later this year ahead of a stronger performance next year,” the survey group said.
Region-wise, the survey group expects sales to contract this year, primarily due to the sluggish market in Indonesia, which accounted for half of all sales in the ASEAN 5 at the end of 2016. Compared with the auto market, which continues to see many first-time buyers as the ASEAN consumer class expands, the motorcycle market is relatively saturated. -- VNS