Car sales double year-on-year in March

Toyota Fortuner V. The car has an engine displacement of 2,700cc. Vehicles with high engine displacement of more than 2,500cc will face a special consumption tax increase as of July 1. — Photo toyotalythuongkiet.net

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — More than 24,800 cars were sold in March, doubling since the same period last year, reported Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA).

Passenger cars were the bestsellers, with more than 13,200 units sold. Commercial vehicles and vehicles for special purposes followed, with 9,206 units and 2,350 units sold, respectively.

The majority of sales were domestically-assembled cars, with 20,000 units sold. The remainder were imported cars.

Truong Hai Automobile JSC (Thaco) was one of the major automakers to take the lead in the market, with 44.7 per cent of the market share and 10,366 units sold in March. Toyota Motor Vietnam followed, with sales of 4,693 units, claiming 20.2 per cent of the market share.

Ford Viet Nam ranked third, with 11.6 per cent of the market share. The firm announced that March was its best-ever month with 2,392 units sold: a growth rate of 71 per cent, compared with the same period last year.

According to the Marketing Director of Hanoi Ford Ngo Minh Tuan, there was no concrete reason for the increase in March. It was just a good sign of the market's recovery.

Of the firm's sale in March, Tuan said about 300 units were low engine displacement vehicles. The rest of the vehicles sold were high engine displacement vehicles.

Lawmakers recently revised the Special Consumption Tax. This will reduce taxes on vehicles with low engine displacement by July 1 this year. Tuan said that the market would face future difficulties because people would wait for the coming price changes.

Meanwhile, vehicles with high engine displacement of more than 2,500cc face a special consumption tax increase, and owners will have to pay more taxes as of July 1.

"According to our rough calculations, people will have to pay a minimum additional sum of VND70 million (US$3,134) to own a high engine displacement vehicle. The actual payment amounts will depend on various engine displacements," said Tuan.

According to the VAMA report, nearly 60,000 cars were sold in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 23 per cent compared with the same period last year.

VAMA members expect to sell about 260,000 units this year, a 10 per cent increase over last year. — VNS