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| The number of locally assembled cars which were sold was 9,097 units, an increase of 10 per cent over last month. — Photo sonha.vn |
HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The volume of car sales fell in April but it was still the 13th consecutive month of sales being higher year over year.
According to the Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), more than 11,340 units were sold last month, of which 6,810 were cars and 4,534 were trucks. The sale of cars fell by 5 per cent, while those of trucks rose by 1 per cent. The number of locally assembled cars which were sold was 9,097 units, an increase of 10 per cent over last month, while that of imported completely built units (CBU) was down 33 per cent compared with last month.
Toyota led with 3,001 units being sold, followed by the Truong Hai Automobile JSC (Thaco) with 2,911 units and Ford with 939 units. VinaMazda, Honda and GM Vietnam came up behind, in that order.
VAMA is still forecasting car sales of 125,000 units this year, 5,000 higher than the previous estimate and 13 per cent higher than 2013.
Vinaxuki did not divulge its sales figures for this month, while the Hoa Binh Automobile Mechanical Joint Stock Company, which has the Chery brand cars from China, reported that no car was sold last month.
Imported cars are more popular
The data from the General Statistics Office showed that the volume of imported cars was around 5,000 units in April, worth US$130 million.
The automobile market has seen the return of growth from the beginning of this year. A VAMA report showed that 30,027 units were sold in the first quarter of this year, of which 21,488 were locally assembled cars and the remainder were imported ones.
Sales Manager of Thaco Passenger Car Bui Kim Kha told Vietnam Television that the automobile market has been recovering but this recovery is concentrated among the big firms. The competition is also stronger than last year.
General Director of Prestige Sport Cars Co Ltd Andreas Klingler said the imported cars were mainly from Thailand, India, South Korea and China. Viet Nam does not have a real manufacturer but only assemblers. The increase in the number of imported cars is understandable as most Vietnamese prefer imported cars over the locally assembled ones.
Experts said several factors have made the market more favourable in the first months of this year. Consumption is up and the banks' loan interest rates have been reduced to 10 per cent and less. In HCM City, the registration tax was cut to 10 per cent from 12 per cent as of January 2014. — VNS