The recent sales report of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) shows that there were 21,913 units of automobiles handed over to customers last month, five per cent lower than the previous month while ten per cent higher than June 2017.
Accordingly, 15,185 units of passenger cars, 6,281 units of commercial vehicles and 447 units of special-purpose vehicles were sold. However, compared to the previous month, sales of passenger cars and commercial vehicles decreased by one per cent and eight per cent, respectively, while the sales of special-purpose vehicles dropped by up to 42 per cent.
Notably, the sales of complete knock-down (CKD) volume were 19,194 units, one per cent lower than the previous month and the figure for completely built-up (CBU) units were 2,719 units, 24 per cent lower than the previous month.
According to VAMA and some automobile manufacturers, the five best sellers last month included Hyundai Grand i10 with 2,156 units, Toyota Vios with 2,049 units, Hyundai Accent with 1,356 units, Toyota Innova with 1,291 units and Mazda 3 with 1,220 units.
By the end of this June, sales of Vietnam's total automobile industry reduced by six per cent compared to the same period of last year. Especially, the number of CKD was up ten per cent and CBU was down 49 per cent versus last year.
This situation was quite understandable as the Decree 116 came into effort early this year had created a barrier for the import of cars until this March with the issuance of Decree 03 instructing the implementation of the Decree 116.
However, the regulations in the Decree 116 related to the Vehicle Type Approval (VTA) and test track continued to be the obstacles for enterprises. So far, the number of cars imported into Vietnam, especially the duty-free automobiles from other ASEAN countries, has increased slightly but still very modest compared to last year.
Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs shows that in the first half of this year, the total number of automobiles imported into Vietnam reached 12,380 units with the total value of $329 million, up to 75.7 per cent and 68.3 per cent respectively lower than the same period of last year.
