Early Bird Car Deposit Wave for Double Benefits

The automobile deposit amount is tending to increase in June. Photo: Phương Lâm.

The preferential policy for registration fee for domestically assembled cars, which is expected to take effect from July, will help change the on-road prices of many car models in the Vietnamese market in a way that benefits customers.

Therefore, dealerships have been actively inviting customers to place deposits from now in order to enjoy double benefits once the policy officially takes effect.

Place deposit in June, deliver car in July

In an interview with Tri thức trực tuyến, a sales consultant at a Toyota dealership confirmed that if customers place a car deposit in June, they will enjoy all the incentives that the dealership is currently offering.

“Customers can place a deposit at this time to receive the promotional policies that the dealership is implementing and complete the vehicle registration process in July to enjoy the additional registration fee incentives,” shared a Toyota dealership employee.

This person also noted that after issuing the car purchase invoice, customers or dealerships need to complete the tax payment and vehicle registration procedures within 30 days.

“If after the above deadline, the tax payment and vehicle registration have not been completed, there will be penalty fees,” this person shared.

Specifically, Decree 20 issued in 2019 stipulates that the deadline for paying the registration fees is 30 days from the date of “notification of registration fee payment”. This notification is signed when the vehicle is being registered for license plates.

If the payment is delayed, the penalty amount will be applied according to the 2019 Tax Law at the rate of 0.03% per day calculated on the overdue tax amount. Taking the example of a 700 million VND car, the registration fee in Hanoi is 84 million VND; in the case the car owner pays the tax on the 40th day (10 days overdue), the penalty will be (84 million VND x 0.03%) x 10 days = 252,000 VND.

In addition, Circular 15 issued by the Ministry of Public Security in 2014 also stipulates that within 30 days from the date of making the transfer of vehicle ownership documents, organizations or individuals who purchase new or used cars to transfer, give, or donate must go to the vehicle registration agency to carry out the name transfer and vehicle relocation procedures.

Many customers take the opportunity to place car deposits in order to enjoy double benefits when the 50% registration fee support policy takes effect. Photo: Phúc Hậu.

According to the disclosure from sales consultants at car dealerships, the number of customers placing car deposits in June has shown a slight increase after information about the preferential policy for registration fees for domestically assembled cars was released.

“Many customers have been advised about the double promotion program, so they have decided to place deposits at this time to keep the benefits from the dealership and wait to receive the car after the implementation of the registration fee incentive policy in order to further reduce the on-road prices,” the employee revealed.

Referring to other automobile dealerships in the Vietnamese market with domestically assembled cars, the number of customers placing car deposits in June has also shown positive changes.

Employees at these dealerships also shared the same reasons, as the “double benefits” factor helps many Vietnamese customers decide to place car deposits before July 1, the date when the 50% registration fee incentive for domestically assembled cars is likely to officially take effect.

In a conversation with Tri thức trực tuyến, Mr. Hữu Cảnh (Ho Chi Minh City) revealed that he had just placed a deposit for a Hyundai Accent in June according to the advice of the salesperson.

“I heard about the registration fee incentives for domestically assembled cars starting from July, so initially I planned to wait until that time to buy a car. However, after consulting various opinions, I decided to place a deposit to receive the dealership’s incentives and also enjoy a reduced registration fee when completing the registration process,” Mr. Hữu Cảnh shared.

Waiting for the market to bounce back

A report from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) shows that in May, the domestic automobile market continued to witness a decline in sales when the total sales volume reached 20,726 vehicles. Compared to the reporting period in April, the total sales of the entire market decreased by 1,683 vehicles, equivalent to a decrease of 7.5%.

Therefore, in the second quarter, the Vietnamese automobile market has experienced a decline in sales in two consecutive periods and caused the total vehicle consumption since the beginning of the year to be lower by 36% compared to the same period in 2022.

However, the declining trend in the Vietnamese automobile market’s sales volume in May is considered slightly negative as the decrease did not exceed 10%.

The Vietnamese automobile market has not yet been able to improve sales
Automobile market sales in the first 5 months of the year (Data: VAMA)
	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5
	Vehicles	17,314	23,040	30,038	22,409	20,726

As mentioned above, the preferential registration fee policy is helping the number of car deposits to show positive changes in June and is likely to help the Vietnamese automobile market recover at the latest in the middle of the third quarter.

Last year, the preferential registration fee policy for domestically assembled cars helped the Vietnamese automobile market recover after a period of decline due to the impact of the pandemic. Moreover, the Vietnamese automobile market surged strongly and set a new record in sales with over 404,000 vehicles sold after 12 months in 2022.

Therefore, if the preferential registration fee policy is implemented from July as planned, it is expected to stimulate customer purchasing power and revive the overall Vietnamese automobile market’s sales volume for the remainder of 2023.