HCMC – August sales of locally assembled automobiles in the country fell 18% year-on-year to about 8,670 and were down 700 units compared with a month earlier, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) on Thursday.
Last month, sales of commercial vehicles were down 12% against August of last year to just over 4,160 units while sales of sport utility vehicles (SUV) and multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) were down 22% to about 1,780 units and sales of passenger cars down 23% to 2,724 units.
Truong Hai saw an 11% year-on-year sales increase to nearly 2,054 units, and Vinaxuki sold 674 units, up 2%, but other auto makers reported sales declines of up to 85%.
Last month Hino sales plunged 85% to 36 vehicles, and GM Daewoo sold around 726 vehicles, down 48%. VinaStar (Mitsubishi) was in a similar boat, with sales dropping around 63% to 157 units.
The leading automaker in the country, Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV), sold more than 2,440 units, down from the more than 2,950 units a year ago. Honda Vietnam sales slumped 37% to nearly 230 units and Mercedes-Benz Vietnam down 4% to nearly 220 units.
Domestic automobile manufacturers like Vinamotor and Vinacomin-Vinacoal posted hefty falls in sales in August as well.
VAMA members sold nearly 68,390 units in the January-August period, down 1% year-on-year. The SUV/MPV vehicle segment was hardest hit with sales sliding a hefty 13% to more than 14,300 units. Toyota alone sold more than 18,980 units in the first eight months.
Similarly, sales of imported cars also fell in the first months. Last month, the General Statistics Office (GSO) estimated that the number of autos imported to Vietnam was only 4,000 units, down by 9.1% over last month. The total import value was worth only US$78 million, a month-on-month decline of 18.8%.
According to market insiders, the import car market has been strongly affected by a number of new policies, economic conditions and Vietnamese beliefs that the seventh month of the lunar calendar is not lucky.
The State Bank of Vietnam’s latest exchange rate revision has been a torment to many enterprises. The imported auto segment is one of many business sectors feeling the heat.
The Government policies to limit imports are becoming effective. They focus in many areas, including customs and tax. For example, importers have to show environmental protection certificates before they can make imports. And tax arrears are not allowed. The credit tightening of banks has also limited car imports.
In previous months, the volume of imported autos was down, but the value of import turnover continued to increase.
With the continuous increase of the dollar compared with dong from early this year plus high interest rates for consumer loans, increasing VAT rates and increasing registration fees, the car consumption in 2010 will stay the same as or even lower than that of last year, automakers said.
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