Auto strategy to hit top gear

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade estimates, passenger cars will see booming growth after 2020 as a result of people’s significantly improved standards of living amid vigorous economic development. Accordingly, car density was expected to average 50 units per 1,000 residents and passenger cars would be in excess of 70 per cent of total car consumption by that time.

Many car manufacturers and traders assume that Vietnam needs to adopt supportive policies, select a strategic vehicle for development and concentrate diverse resources into promoting this one.

“We hope the Vietnamese government would soon present the auto industry development strategy for 2010-2020 and vision towards 2030 with consistent and stable development orientations which will serve as a basis for car manufacturers to develop their business development plans and set their mind at ease when operating in Vietnam,” said a Toyota Vietnam representative.

A Toyota Vietnam executive said that the tax policies needed to become stable for at least 10 years.

“We expect the Ministry of Finance would soon pronounce tax policies as well as introduce tax reduction trajectory towards cars in line with the common effective preferential tariffs within ASEAN free trade area (CEPT/AFTA) scheme until 2018,” said the Toyota Vietnam representative.

Audi Vietnam general director Laurent Ganet used Thailand as an example to demonstrate how a clear and proper development direction could support the car industry augmentation.

“Thirty years ago Thailand featured an under-developed car industry. The Thai government then worked out clear and long-term development orientations for the car industry and defined pick-up as a strategic vehicle for promotion,” he said. Thailand has grown into one of world leaders in design and manufacture of pick-up.

Vietnam’s car industry remains minuscule with 140,000 car units at present, far below Indonesia with 464,816 cars, Malaysia 489,269 cars and Thailand 999,378 cars.

The European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) recently noted that Vietnam’s auto industry abounded with a lot of potential for development in the medium and long terms. However, it also said that the auto sector’s development would be unstable in the short term which was evinced through a decline of 20 per cent in car consumption in 2010 against 2009. – VIR

Tags: Vietnam automotive, Vietnam automotive industry

Posted by VBN on Jan 6 2011. Filed under Automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry