Porsche introduced its luxury model Panamera in Viet Nam on October 10. Photo dantri.com.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Many well-known automobile brands in the Vietnamese market will not be present at next week's Vietnam Motor Show 2013, the country's biggest annual exhibition. Instead, they are promoting their vehicles independently.

The show is a place for businesses to introduce new products and seek partners. However, three giant domestic automobile businesses (Thaco Truong Hai, Hyundai Thanh Cong and Vinaxuki) and three international firms (Subaru, Orsche and Rolls-Royce) all chose not to participate, according to VnEconomy online newspaper.

Thaco Truong Hai and Hyundai carried out their own programmes to introduce new cars.

Early this month, Thaco Truong Hai held a ceremony to introduce the Mazda2 S sedan and Kia K3, which will replace its older Forte sedan.

Kia K3 will replace Forte sedan. File Photo

Hyundai Thanh Cong launched the Accent Harchback and said the all-new Hyundai i10 would be released in November.

Porsche did not reveal its reason for not attending the Vietnam Motor Show after participating last year, but it presented versions of luxury model Panamera on October 10.

Rolls-Royce warmed up the market by announcing its plan to release Phantom, Ghost and Wraith, worth billions of dong. The firm also reported that it would introduce a gilded version of Ghost.

Before 2012 only members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) could participate in the show. But as the number of import cars increased, the association opened the show to cars imported from official suppliers.

Consequently, many firms have not invested in building their own factories, instead developing a distribution network of imported cars.

In nearly five years, Viet Nam will have to break its tariff barriers on import cars when the country fully participates in the ASEAN Free Trade Area.

VAMA members receive the Government's support in making products with the localisation rate. Photo utech-vietnam.com

At present, VAMA members including Toyota, Ford, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and GM have an advantage in making products with the localisation rate. Under localisation policies, these firms receive support from the Government. However, after many years, the firms' localisation rate has not exceeded 10 per cent for sedans, much lower than the target. — VNS