Declining purchasing power causes decline in auto imports to Vietnam

The number of imported cars into Vietnam decreased sharply in the first half of May. Photo: T.T.

According to the latest report from the General Department of Customs, the total number of imported cars of all types into Vietnam in the first half of May was 3,257 units with a total value of nearly 88 million USD.

Among them, 9-seat and below cars still made up the majority of imported cars into Vietnam with a number of 2,387 units and a total value of over 60 million USD.

Transportation cars also reached a number of 533 units imported into Vietnam in the first half of May with a total value of 12.7 million USD. The remaining part belongs to the group of cars with more than 9 seats.

Therefore, this has been the third consecutive reporting period that recorded a decline in car import activities into Vietnam. Previously, the regular reports from the General Department of Customs showed that the number of cars entering Vietnamese ports had started to decrease gradually since the first half of April.

It is worth noting that the number of imported cars into Vietnam in the first half of May was only equivalent to 53.5% of the import volume in the previous reporting period and about 52.3% of the figures recorded in the same period of April.

Sharp decline in car imports into Vietnam
Number of car imports into Vietnam in the last 3 months (Data: General Department of Customs)
Label		March 1 period	March 2 period	April 1 period	April 2 period	May 1 period
	cars	7285	7943	6233	6090	3257

From the beginning of the year, the total number of car imports into Vietnam reached 57,604 units with a total value of nearly 1.3 billion USD.

Cars with 9 seats and below accounted for 80.2% of the quantity and about 76.1% of the total value of imported cars.

Despite the continuous decline in recent periods, car import activities have been strong in the early months of the year, which has helped the total number of cars entering Vietnamese ports to remain higher than the 45,322 units recorded in the same period last year.

Among them, January witnessed an import volume of cars into Vietnam reaching 14,457 units of all types with a total value of approximately 314.5 million USD. Compared to the same period of 2022, car imports in the first month of the year increased by 219% in terms of quantity and 149% in terms of value.

As of now, March is the busiest period for car import activities, with a total of 15,228 units having entered Vietnamese ports. In this reporting period, the total import value of fully assembled cars was over 355 million USD, equivalent to an average of nearly 23,340 USD per car.

Currently, Thailand and Indonesia are still the two main countries supplying cars to the Vietnamese market. Many car models originating from these two Southeast Asian countries continue to appear in the list of best-selling cars in the Vietnamese market, such as Mitsubishi Xpander (5,528 units after 4 months), Toyota Corolla Cross (4,727 units), Hyundai Creta (3,284 units), and Ford Everest with a total of 3,263 units sold since the beginning of the year.

However, the report from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) shows that the overall car market in Vietnam has decreased by 30% compared to the first 4 months of 2022.

Specifically, the consumption of imported cars recorded a 16% decrease and reached 42,784 units since the beginning of the year. For the group of locally assembled cars, the sales volume in the same period only reached 50,017 units, equivalent to a 39% decrease compared to last year.