Automobile sales slip to record low due to COVID-19

In the month, the figure slipped 45% compared to that in July as 8,884 vehicles were sold, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA).

It was the fifth consecutive month seeing the downward trend of the country’s automobile sales.

In the first eight months of 2021, VAMA members sold a total 175,400 vehicles, representing a decline of 13% against the figure recorded in the same period of 2019, when COVID-19 had yet to break out.

The vehicles included 121,549 passenger and 50,034 commercial cars, down 18% and 2%, respectively. Meanwhile, 3,817 special-purpose vehicles were sold, inching up 1%.

The number does not reflect the sales of non-VAMA members such as Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Subaru, Volkswagen and Volvo.

In the eight months, TC Motor of Hyundai Thanh Cong sold 40,248 vehicles, while VinFast of conglomerate Vingroup sold 22,030 units.

A total of 2,310 vehicles of VinFast were handed over to customers across the country in August.

The domestic carmaker is planning to release the first model of its VF e34 electric compact vehicle by the end of this year.

Since the beginning of the fourth wave of COVID-19 outbreaks in Vietnam in late April, various plants, car dealers and repair centres of VAMA members have to halt operations due to social distancing measures in an attempt to curb the spread of the pandemic.