When assembled cars run out of registration fee incentives, will imported cars make a breakthrough?

Vietnam’s auto market has passed the low months of the year and is gradually recovering. Sales have been steadily increasing in recent months. According to the summary of actual retail sales of VAMA members and complete vehicle import data in April 2022, the sales of these automakers reached 42,359 vehicles, an increase of 14% compared to March 2022. and increased 40% compared to April 2021.

Accumulated to the end of April 2022, sales of imported cars increased by 22% over the same period last year.

Notably, although at a time when locally assembled and manufactured cars are entitled to a 50% registration fee incentive, sales of imported cars still increase. Specifically, in April, the sales of domestically assembled cars reached 25,269 units, up 16% from the previous month and the sales of fully imported cars were 17,090 units, up 13% over the previous month. Accumulated to the end of April 2022, the auto market has grown by 31% over the same period in 2021. In which, sales of domestically assembled cars increased by 38% and imported cars increased by 22% compared to the same period in 2021. with the same period last year.

Starting from June 1, 2022, the 50% preferential registration fee policy for locally assembled and manufactured vehicles will expire. Thus, the sales opportunity in the auto market will be divided equally among all vehicles. However, it can be seen that the sales of imported cars still increased steadily during the period when the preferential registration fee policy for assembled cars took effect.

It is predicted that in the coming time, imported cars will grow more strongly when “fair competition” with assembled cars. In addition, in recent months, disruptions in the supply chain have also greatly affected the distribution of imported car models. Some imported Toyota models such as Raize, Veloz Cross, and Corolla Cross are all in short supply.

According to data from the General Department of Customs, the number of CBU cars imported to Vietnam reached 13,238 units, a sharp increase of 28.1% over the previous month.

However, in the first 4 months of 2022, the number of cars imported to the country still decreased compared to the same period last year, with 36,989 CBU cars of all kinds, down 26.3%. In which, the number of cars with 9 seats or less imported to Vietnam reached 30,121 units, accounting for 81% of the total number of CBU umbrellas imported to Vietnam and down 9.8% over the same period last year.

CBU cars of all kinds imported to Vietnam in the first 4 months of 2022 mainly originate from Thailand, Indonesia and China. In which, imports from Thailand were 16,752 units, down 35.1%; imported from Indonesia with 11,016 units, down 20.6% and imported from China with 5,432 units, down 17.6% over the same period last year.

The shortage of goods in the auto market is expected to persist. Preliminary statistics of the General Department of Customs show that businesses in Vietnam have imported a total of 8,366 CBU cars in the first half of May 2022, reaching a total turnover of more than 215 million USD, a slight decrease of 0.3%. in volume and down 4.4% compared to the first half of April.

In particular, the number of cars with 9 seats or less was imported in the largest quantity with 5,231 units, accounting for 62.5% of the total number of imported cars, down 12% compared to the previous month; at the same time reached a value of more than 100 million USD, down 13%.