Steeply Increasing Automobile Sales

Automobile sales by Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) members reached 5,580 in May, up nearly 1,000 units or 20 percent over last month and 59 percent over the same period last year. Trade automobiles, sports utility vehicles (SUV) and the multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) make up the majority of the sales, and particularly those for use in tourism have satisfactory growth.

 

According to the latest VAMA statistics on 6 June, trade automobiles hold their lead in the market, with 2,767 units of the 5,580 units sold, increasing by 421 units in comparison with last month, twice the sales growth from April to March, and 71 percent over the same period last year. Two manufacturers, Truong Hai and Vinaxuki (Xuan Kien), lead the truck market with sales of 930 units and 604 units, respectively. These two manufacturers, of the 16 VAMA members, have for the first time passed many of the big manufacturers to hold second and third position for sales (just behind Toyota).

 

The considerably increasing MPV and SUV sales also pushes up total May revenue. There were 1,646 units sold during the last month, increasing by 339 units (26 percent) and by 25 percent over the same period last year. The two favourite models in the market are Innova of Toyato and Captiva of Vifamco with total sales of 1, 200 units. 404 units were Captivas, rising 233 units (nearly 410 percent) over the last month with 171 units. The marketing representative of Vidamco revealed that because of growing market demand, the company has raised the productivity of Captiva assembly line to 200 units per month. However, customers still have to wait nine to ten months for their products (depending on each model) at this moment. Other MPV and SUV sales include Hi-Lander of Isuzu with 88 autos, and units by manufacturers such as Grandis, APV and Everest (4x2) with less than 50 autos.

 

In May, the tourism auto also achieved significant growth with the sale of 1,167 units, increasing by 138 units or 13 percent over last month, and 104 percent over the same period last year when the consumer was expecting a refreshment from the exporting autos. The most popular car models are Honda Civic (286 units, 197 of them 1.8 litre units), Camry 2.4 with 170 units and Altis 1.8 with 105 units.

 

Generally, automobile sales of Vietnamese automobile manufacturers in early May have increased strongly in every line of automobiles. Total sales reached 22,445 units, increasing 85 percent over the same period last year