Vietnam’s new vehicle market rebounded by 72% to 17,181 units in February 2025 from weak year-earlier sales of 10,017 units, according to wholesale data released by the Vietnam Automotive Manufacturers Association (VAMA). The data do not include sales by Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Tesla, Nissan, domestic automaker VinFast, and a growing number of Chinese brands that have entered the market in the last two years.
VAMA’s members reported a sharp rebound in sales last month after volumes plunged by 51% a year earlier due mainly to the Lunar New Year holidays. Economic growth in the country remains strong, with the latest government data showing GDP expanded by 7.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by strong domestic consumption, fixed investment and exports.
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In the first two months of the year vehicle sales rose by 23% to 32,857 units from 26,714 in the same period of 2024, according to VAMA data, with sales of passenger vehicles rising by 16% to 22,507 units while commercial vehicle deliveries surged by 42% to 10,350 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 25% jump in sales to 11,531 units. This includes a 3% rise in Kia sales to 3,878 units and a 20% rise in Mazda sales to 4,006 units, while sales of Thaco commercial vehicles jumped by 88% to 2,947 units.
Toyota’s sales surged by 87% to 6,460 units year-to-date, driven by strong Vios volumes, while Ford’s sales rose by 20% to 5,210 units; Honda 3,634 units (+11%); and Mitsubishi 3,508 units (+34%).
Domestic automaker VinFast announced separately that it delivered 22,800 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to customers in Vietnam in the first two months of 2025 year, with the VF3 and VF5 models accounting for around 80% of sales, while local distributor Tan Chong International said its sales of Hyundai-branded vehicles rose by 9% to 6,096 units.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance announced in early March that it has extended the vehicle registration tax exemption for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) until the end of February 2027, or by an additional two years.
