Hà Nội car dealers scramble to move vehicles
As the Hồng (Red) River continues to rise and threatens to flood many areas in Hà Nội, owners of car showrooms are looking for ways to relocate their vehicles.
Amid warnings of the rising Hồng (Red) River causing flooding in several areas near the river in Hà Nội, used and luxury car showroom owners are seeking ways to relocate display vehicles.
As of Tuesday morning, Phan Văn Cảnh, the owner of Thái Bình Auto used car dealership (located at 400 Phạm Văn Đồng), has been rushing around nearby urban areas along Phạm Văn Đồng to find parking spaces.
His preference is for elevated parking structures, avoiding underground parking. However, he still hasn't found places due to all the other dealers having the same idea.
"Since yesterday, in the group chat of used car dealers, everyone has been discussing finding elevated parking spots in case of heavy rain and the Hồng River rising. Today (September 9), hearing reports about the continuous rise of the water levels, I hurried to find a place to park, but everywhere was full," Cảnh said.
He added that his showroom has 15 cars, including the Hyundai Santa Fe, KIA Sorento and Mazda CX5, so it is especially difficult to find a large number of spaces in one place at the same time.
If no nearby parking is available, he might have to split up the cars and distribute them to different urban areas, a few cars per area.
Meanwhile, Lê Xuân Bách, the owner of Bách Hải Auto Showroom (located at 15 Lê Văn Lương), completed relocating all of the vehicles from his showroom and storage yard by the morning of September 10.
Bách explained that his system and affiliated showrooms house hundreds of cars, including many high-end models, including the Toyota Land Cruiser, Lexus LX570, and Mercedes-Benz GLC. Given the value of these assets, he decided to prioritise safety by relocating the vehicles.
"My cars are parked in the elevated parking structures of urban developments, like Vinhomes Smart City and Keangnam. These facilities offer hourly parking rates ranging from VNĐ15,000 (US$0.6) to VNĐ30,000," Bách said.
According to him, almost all the used car dealers along Lê Văn Lương have already moved their cars to safety.
Over the past two days, this has been happening as flood warnings for Hà Nội have become more frequent.
Nguyễn Ngọc, the owner of Auto 568 Showroom (located at 517 Kim Mã Street), has successfully secured upper-level parking in the Ngoại Giao Đoàn area (near Võ Chí Công Street).
Expensive vehicles, including the Rolls-Royce Phantom, Maybach GLS600 and Porsche 911 Targa 4S are now safely parked on the upper floors of the parking garage.
Ngọc said that the parking fee, ranging from VNĐ130,000 to VNĐ150,000 per day, is still cheap compared to the potential damage from flooding, as his showroom's cars are all high-end models.
The demand for high-level parking spaces from used car dealers remains high, however many locations are now full or no longer accepting new vehicles, prioritising parking for residents and office tenants. — VNS
