New vehicle sales in Vietnam increased by 4% to 21,408 units in August 2024 from 20,643 a year earlier, according to wholesale data released by the Vietnam Automotive Manufacturers Association (VAMA).
The data did not include sales by Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Tesla and Nissan and a growing number of Chinese brands that have entered the market in the last two years, as well as domestic electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast.
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The vehicle market last month continued to recover from very weak levels after 18 months of almost incessant decline. Heavy discounting by dealers helped support sales but overall demand remained weak and inventories high. Economic growth in the country accelerated to 6.9% year on year in the second quarter from 5.9% in the first quarter, driven mainly by strong export growth and a pickup in manufacturing and service sector activity.
VAMA member data showed sales fell 3% to 161,830 units in the first eight months of 2024 from 166,137 a year earlier, including a 6% decline in passenger vehicle sales to 118,196 units though commercial vehicle sales were 7% higher at 43,634 units.
Truong Hai (Thaco) group, the local assembler and distributor of several overseas brands and a major player in the commercial vehicle segment, reported a 12% drop in group sales to 50,860 units year to date. This included a 22% drop in Kia sales to 18,933 units and a 13% fall in Mazda sales to 17,691 units while sales of Thaco commercial vehicled increased 4% to 11,238 units.
Toyota sales were down by just 2% at 33,516 units year to date (YTD) with sales of the Hilux pickup truck being stepped up in recent months. Ford saw its sales rise by 3% to 24,071 units underpinned by the popular Ranger, Everest and Transit models, while Mitsubishi sales increased 20% to 22,548 units lifted by the launch of the XForce SUV at the beginning of the year; followed by Honda with 14,047 units (+12%); and Suzuki with 7,205 units (-28%).
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By GlobalDataSeparate data released by its local distributor showed Hyundai was the best selling auto brand in Vietnam YTD with 34,389 sales. VinFast said its global sales increased by 92% to 21,747 units in the first half of 2024 and said it was targeting 80,000 sales over the full year in a growing number of markets in south east Asia and the Middle East as well as in the US.
The Vietnamese government said it would keep the registration tax for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) at 0% until 2026 while the special consumption tax would remain between 1% and 3% as part of a broader package of incentives aimed at attracting BEV sector investment into the country including cuts in import duty on components and charging equipment.
