Car prices plummet during ‘ghost month’, car dealers sit idle
Though automobile prices have fallen to unprecedented low levels, auto showrooms remain deserted with just several visitors and no buyers, while car dealers spend their time surfing the internet.
The seventh month of the lunar year is called the month of forsaken spirits and wandering souls. Vietnamese believe that it is better not to do important things during this time because it is not a lucky month, especially for businesspeople.
This explains why people do not buy cars in the month. It is the low sales season of the year, with sales half of other months.
Auto showrooms in Hanoi are deserted these days, though the domestic automobile market heated up after Tet.
Luong Thanh Tuan, who runs a large Honda sales agent in Hanoi, said he has had 100 orders since the beginning of August. However, in the second half of August, which coincides with the first half of the seventh month of lunar calendar, only 20 cars were sold, a very modest figure if noting that in high sales season, the sales agent can sell 200-300 cars a month.
“We sold nearly 100 cars in the ‘ghost month’ last year. But I wonder if we can sell half of the figure this year,” Tuan said. “The ‘ghost month’ this year has been the worst month for many years."
At another sales agent in Hanoi which distributes Hyundai cars, Pham Manh The, a salesman, said people just visit the showroom but don’t make deals.
“We are running a sale promotion program which offers very good prices, the best in many years. Buyers now can also enjoy 50 percent vehicle registration tax cut under a government policy aiming to stimulate demand. But these preferences are not enough to attract buyers at this moment,” The said.
Having been ‘sitting idle’ for the last half month, Nguyen Thanh Huyen, a Ford sales agent, said she is spending time learning more about products, practicing sale skills and developing new channels to approach clients, because she doesn’t have clients now.
Over the last month, with just a smartphone and a wireless microphone set, dozens of videos with advice on products, funny situations, and tips for using cars have been produced by Huyen and posted on her personal page.
Mitsubishi is offering reasonable prices for the seven-seater SUV Pajero Sport imported from Thailand at VND960 million – VND1.145 billion.
Honda Vietnam offered the discount of VND150 million in cash to the clients buying Honda CR-V in August. The policy has lowered the real selling prices to VND858 million-VND988 million for C-size crossover.
