The door still opens widely for super cars to enter Vietnam

While automobile trade companies are considering shifting to other business fields, domestic automobile manufacturing joint ventures are considering the plans which allow to import more cars to satisfy the increasingly high domestic demand for super cars.

The clients, who want to buy the super cars with famous brands of Audi, Porsche, Mercedes Benz and BMW, can be easily satisfied because all the automobile manufacturers have authorized sales agents or subsidiaries in Vietnam.

It would be more difficult for buyers to look for the cars with other brands, because the car manufacturers still do not have official representatives in Vietnam yet. However, customers have been promised that they will still be able to get the cars they want in the most convenient way.

“There is no showroom of Roll Royce in Vietnam, but the customers, who want to own the super cars, would be invited by BMW Euro Auto to visit the regional office of the brand in Singapore,” said Nguyen Dang Thao, Business Director of BMW Euro Auto–when asked about what Vietnamese people should do to obtain the super cars.

“Especially, they would be invited to the manufacturing base in the UK to choose the details for the Roll Royce they order for themselves,” he added.

In October 2010, BMW Euro Auto officially became the unit which provides and maintenance and repair services for two brands Rolls Royce and Mini Cooper in Vietnam. However, it seems that BMW Euro Auto still does not intend to open a showroom to display and sell products for the super car brand, even though the number of customers owning Roll Royce in Vietnam has reached 40.

As for Mini Cooper, since the sale prices of the cars are much lower than Roll Royce’s, it is more likely that a showroom of Mini Cooper cars would become realistic. There are about 200 Mini Cooper rolling on the streets in Vietnam.

A lot of other super car brands have also set their foot in Vietnam, even though the manufacturers still do not have official authorized agents in the country, such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Maserati or Bentley.

Analysts say that if the manufacturers decided not to set up showrooms in Vietnam, they can use the method that BMW Euro Auto is applying to Roll Royce brand.

As for Lexus Vietnam, the opening of showroom is being considered by Toyota Vietnam (TMV).

“We are learning about the market and the demand. Therefore, we still cannot announce when we will begin importing the car model. However, I can say for sure that we will make every effort to satisfy the demand of customers as soon as we can,” said Tachibana, General Director of TMV.

TMV is following steps to import other Toyota’s models to satisfy the domestic demand, including Hilux, Yaris, Land Cruiser and Prado. However, these are just popular models. The situation would be different for Lexus, the model in a higher class, and analysts believe that it will need some more time to carry Lexus to Vietnam.

Sources have said that the showroom which displays and sells Lexus cars would only be established in late 2012 or early 2013 at the soonest. Some big sales agents of TMV in Hanoi and HCM City, including Toyota Thang Long and Toyota My Dinh are listed among potential partners who can be chosen as the sales agents for Lexus brand.

In 2007-2010 alone, 5300 Lexus car of different kinds were imported to Vietnam. This shows the great potentials for the companies which can become the sales agents for the luxury brand.

Meanwhile, Ford Vietnam has announced it would not join the race of distributing super cars in the domestic market, even though this is an effective way to attract more customers and polish the images of manufacturers.

“In the past, some Ford models were imported to satisfy the demand of some customers. However, the imports were carried out through trade companies, while Ford Vietnam did not get involved in the affairs. We will focus on making the car models in the global One Ford strategy,” said Truong Kim Phong, Sales Manager of Ford Vietnam. – TBKTVN

Tags: Vietnam automotive, Vietnam automotive industry, Vietnam autos market, Vietnam car imports