2018 is a year of flourishing as well as fluctuating for Vietnamese automotive industry. Let’s look back what happened by the following summaries.
1. Overall sales increased
2018 annual sales were 288,683 vehicles, up 5.8% compared to the last year, according to Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association. CKD volume was up 10.6% to 215,704 units, and CBU volume was down 6.2% to 72,979 units. This would be the positive tendency for automotive industry in Vietnam and predicted to rise even more over the next few years.
In terms of brand sales in 2018, based on MarkLines Data Center figures, Honda was the leading car brand with the increase of 123.3% to 27,099 units, followed by VinaMazda up 25.8% to 32,728 units and Toyota (excluding Lexus) up 11% to 65,856 units. In contrast, Truong Hai and Ford suffered annual declines of 6.7% to 58,936 units and 13.8% to 24,636 units respectively.
2. Trade barriers
In line with ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, Vietnam lowered the tariff on the CBU imports from ASEAN countries from 30% to 0% in January 2018, but what happened in the first half of the year was totally different. The reason is about “Decree 116”, which stipulated conditions on production, assembly, import, warranty, and maintenance of vehicles, consequently, creating a hurdle for foreign manufacturers and tightening the import operations. In the first two months of 2018, no units were imported into Vietnam.
It takes over half a year for the manufacturers to fulfill conditions and procedures of Decree 116. From the September to the end of 2018, imported cars volume increased continually, especially from ASEAN countries.
3. Fraught with newbies
With the zero import tax from ASEAN, car manufactures competitively released a lot of new car models in various segments in the last half year of 2018. For instance, Wigo, Avanza and Rush from Toyota, Xpander from Mitsubishi, “mini cooper” Swift from Suzuki, etc.
4. Welcome Vinfast
(Source: vinfast.vn)
In the first half year of 2018, Vinfast has been sweeping automobile headlines with Vinfast at Paris Motor Show 2018 and Vinfast’s electric car. Vinfast immediately become the pride of Vietnamese people for the first time Vietnamese car brand collaborating with giant automotive partner such as BMW, Bosch, Pininfarina, Magna Steyr to manufacture domestic cars.
After one month from Paris Motor Show 2018, Vinfast started to introduce Lux A 2.0, Lux SA 2.0, Fadil and electric motorcycle Klara to Vietnamese consumers, promising the new automotive era in Vietnam.
5. Consumer trends
Top cars sold in 2018 reflect a great tendency of Vietnamese consumers. The best-seller car was Toyota Vios, of which cost varies from 592 million dong to 705 million dong, at 27,118 units during the year. To get the insight of Vietnamese consumers trends, please read this.