An on-month doubling in sales in March has seen the auto market boom, with considerable changes in the second quarter of this year expected when the excise tax applied to nine-seat and smaller vehicles with a cylinder capacity of less than 1,500cu.cm decreases five percent.
Double sales
According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA), in February nearly 12,000 autos were sold in the Vietnamese market, and in March sales grew to 24,802 vehicles, including nearly 20,000 domestically assembled autos and 4,800 imported fully-assembled autos.
Thaco continued to take the lead with 10,366 autos sold in March, accounting for a 44.7 percent market share, while Toyota and Ford respectively accounted for 21.4 percent and 11.6 percent.
In the first quarter of this year, nearly 60,000 autos were sold, a rise of 23 percent compared with the same period in 2015. These included 33,782 touring cars, up six percent; 22,005 commercial autos, up 55 percent; and nearly 3,900 specialized vehicles, up 57 percent.
While sales of domestic businesses increased 55 percent, the sales volume of imported vehicles decreased 36 percent. Explaining this contrary, the representative of an auto business in Hanoi said the diversity of domestically assembled vehicles offered consumers a large choice, while imported vehicle prices have increased due to the excise tax and other expenses. However, the situation is expected to change in the second quarter of this year.
Imported vehicle prices to fall
The amended Excise Tax Law was approved by the National Assembly in early April and is predicted to create an impulse for the domestic auto market in 2016 and ensuing years. Specifically, the excise tax applied to imported fully-assembled cars with nine seats or less and a cylinder capacity of less than 1,500cu.cm will decrease from 45 percent to 40 percent on July 1 and 35 percent in early 2018. The tax rate applied to vehicles with a cylinder capacity of 1,500-2,000cu.cm will remain unchanged this year (45 percent) and decrease to 40 percent in early 2018.
Auto traders predicted that when new excise tax rates take effect, prices of imported vehicles with a cylinder capacity of less than 1,500cu.cm would fall by US$500-1,000, and prices of vehicles with a larger cylinder capacity, 2,500cu.cm or higher, would increase by several thousand or several ten thousand US dollars.
Vehicles with a cylinder capacity of less than 1,500cu.cm are best selling in the Vietnamese auto market. Models such as Hyundai i10, Hyundai i20, Kia Morning, Toyota Vios, Tyota Yaris, Honda City, Ford Fiesta, Chevrolet Spark, Suzuki Swift, and Mazda 2 have become the choice of most urban customers, taxi firms, and those who buy cars for the first time. The market share of this segment has grown rapidly over the past five years from 26.6 percent in 2011 to 36 percent in 2014 and an estimated 45-50 percent currently.
Source : ven
Keyword : Auto market, accelerates.
