Auto imports rev up during May

Despite sluggish sales in the domestic market, automobile imports in May still reached around 4,500 units, up roughly 1,000 units over April, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

In the first five months of this year, imports reached 17,600 units worth US$301 million, up 2.1 per cent in volume but down 2.6 per cent in value compared to the same period last year, the GSO reported.

Car dealers said that they were facing difficulties due to a lack of buyers, despite widespread price reductions.

A director of a large HCM City import car company, who declined to be named, complained that he sold only two cars in April compared to between 30-40 cars in the same month last year.

His company now has 130 cars in stock and he must find a way to sell them in order to obtain enough revenue to pay bank debts.

Director of Tradoco Pham Huu Tam said that his company sold dozens of cars this time last year, but current sales were down to two or three cars a month, even though he had cut prices and offered incentives such as paying car ownership registration tax.

A Ha Noi car dealer explained that it was very difficult to sell cars now because there were too many choices thanks to the large numbers of imports.

A representative from Hoan Cau Car Company revealed that his company sold just three cars in April, adding that his company had decided to change its business strategy and would focus on trading medium-range cars priced at between $17,000 and $50,000, instead of luxury cars.

To curb the country’s high trade deficit, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has added cars to its list of import restrictions and the General Department of Customs has put automobiles on its list of goods that need to be tightly controlled.

Viet Nam News

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