Vietnamese buyers continue waiting for an indefinite car price cut pledged by carmakers at a meeting with the Ministry of Finance more than a week ago.
To date, no carmakers belonging to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) announced the reduction.
Finance Minister Truong Chi Trung said after the gathering on August 24 that all attending automakers pledged to cut the cost to reduce the price.
However, carmakers did not specify the timetable for the cut and the amount of rebates, local media reported.
“This looks like ridicule,” a car hunter said. “Carmakers may reduce outdated or unsellable models. Worse, we do not know when the price cut pledge is materialized while the supply is very short at the moment,” he added.
“The ministry should make a harder action if it wants to keep the car price low in particular and the consumer price in general as expected,” he explained.
In an effort to reduce the car price in the country which is reportedly much higher than the regional average, the Ministry of Finance has reduced the import tax on car price to 70 per cent from 80 per cent since early August.
However, according to Michael Pease, CEO of Ford Vietnam, the tax cut on imported finished automobiles does not have any effect on production costs but a more severe competition.
Since then, only Mercedes- Benz Vietnam announced to reduce the price of E280 from US$129,000 to US$119,000 and E200K from US$92,000 to US$89,000. However, this is only in a promotional program in a bid to compete with imported BMW and Hyundai sedans.
Ngo Van Tru, an official from Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the tax cut on imported automobiles lacked consultancy from relevantly expertise bodies. “Such a tax cut will hardly make a virtual reduction in domestically made car price,” he pointed out.
Further, in general, the import tax on automobiles remains high and they cannot make strong enough pressure on locally assembled vehicle makers to adjust the price down.
According to VAMA, car sales by its 16 members rose 82 per cent to 34,998 in the first seven months this year. VAMA carmakers are now dominating the Vietnamese market. (VNN)
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