Car sales in Vietnam down 40% in January
A total of 18,893 cars were sold in Vietnam in January, a drop of 40% compared to the previous month, according to a monthly report issued by Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) on February 13.
Toyota led all brands in January sales with 3,346, followed by Ford with 2,452; Mazda, 2,031; THACO KIA,1,846; and Honda, 1,826.
Experts attributed a sharp decline in car sales to the Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays, impacting consumers' purchasing power. Consumers tend to wait for new models and releases at this time of year, contributing to lower sales during this period.
The report shows that January sales fell significantly with passenger car sales dropping 42% month-on-month to 14,201 units, commercial vehicles decreased 33% to 4,354 units and specialised vehicles down 40% to 338 units.
According to VAMA, sales of domestically-assembled vehicles reached 9,120 units, down 29% compared to the previous month, and that of imported ones stood at 9,773, dropped 48% against the previous month.
Notably, 904 hybrid cars sold in the month, an increase of 57% over the same period last year, showing the increasing demand for environmentally friendly cars.
Experts predict that with the current developments, the Vietnamese automobile market may recover from the second quarter of this year when manufacturers continue to introduce stimulus policies, along with support from the Government in further encouraging the development of green vehicles.