Mazda CX-5 Outsells the Rest of the Midsize SUV Class Combined

Mazda CX-5. Photo: Thaco Vietnam.

Due to the impact of the Tet Lunar New Year holiday which lasted for many days, sales results of manufacturers all experienced a slowdown. According to the latest report from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), the total sales volume of the automobile market in February reached 11,633 vehicles, equivalent to a 40% drop compared to the first month of the year.

The slowdown in the market has affected almost all current segments, including the C-class SUV priced at around VND1 billion. Sales results in February of this SUV group reached 1,841 vehicles, a decrease of about 37.7% compared to the previous month.

Mazda CX-5’s sales continue to lead, while Ford Territory’s sales are below 250 vehicles

Mazda CX-5 has always maintained its leading position throughout the year of 2023, with a total number of vehicles sold on the market reaching 16,808 units. Entering this year, despite the gloomy market situation, the king of the segment continues to lead the way with a total number of vehicles sold reaching 807 units in the first month of the year.

In February, the number of vehicles sold decreased slightly, but still reached 600 units, continuing to become the best-selling C-class SUV model and making it into the group of 10 automobiles with the best sales in the month. However, looking back at the number of vehicles sold in the same period last year, the purchasing power of customers for this CUV model also decreased by about 41%.

Looking at the entire segment, CX-5’s sales still occupy a high market share, facing the competition of its remaining rivals. Specifically, if only considering February, Mazda CX-5’s sales were higher than the total number of vehicles sold by all other names combined.

Earlier this year, Mazda Vietnam also announced a price adjustment for many of the automaker’s popular car models. Thereof, all versions of Mazda CX-5 were adjusted up by an additional VND10 million, bringing the listed price of this car model to VND759-999 million depending on the version and engine option.

Following Mazda CX-5 on the sales ranking is Ford Territory with sales results in February reaching 220 vehicles. Compared to the previous month, Territory’s sales decreased by about 43.5% and were 61.7% lower when compared to the sales results in the same period in 2023 (575 vehicles).

Besides the market situation, limited supply before Tet was also the main reason why the sales of this C-class SUV model decreased significantly. Earlier, around the time of the Lunar New Year, many Ford dealerships in Ho Chi Minh City announced that the Territory was out of stock. However, at this point in time, the latest car models have arrived, in preparation for the new year’s sales race.

“Before Tet, the dealership was completely out of Ford Territory because new cars had not arrived in time. However, now the cars have arrived in full colors and versions; customers who have demand and complete payment in March will also receive a further VND5-10 million discount from the dealership,” shared a consultant at a Ford dealership.

Honda CR-V hybrid version surges, while Hyundai Tucson faces difficulties

Honda CR-V, although it still recorded a decrease of about 40.3% in total sales compared to the first month of the year, the hybrid version of this C-class SUV, named e:HEV RS, unexpectedly increased from 35 to 77 units. With an increase of approximately 120%, Honda CR-V hybrid has surpassed Suzuki Ertiga hybrid and has become the hybrid-powered vehicle model with the highest sales on the market in the month.

However, when compared to the gasoline version of CR-V, the sales results of the hybrid version still had a large gap, mostly due to the price exceeding VND1 billion. In the first two months of this year, Honda Vietnam delivered 326 CR-V units to customers, including 112 e:HEV RS units.

According to a survey by Tri Thuc – Znews, in March, Honda’s C-class SUV was also offered many incentive programs by dealers to stimulate purchases at the beginning of the year. Specifically, when contacting a Honda dealer in Ho Chi Minh City, a consultant said that all versions of the CR-V are currently discounted from a few tens of million to more than VND100 million.

Thereof, the CR-V G and L versions are discounted by up to VND125 million in cash, bringing the price of both to about VND1 billion. The L AWD version is also discounted by VND30 million, while the e:HEV RS version is discounted by at least VND20 million. Besides the cash discount, customers who complete payment in March will also receive a gift of genuine accessories worth more than VND10 million.

“Currently, the dealer is discounting all versions of the Honda CR-V for customers who have demand in March and offering gifts with a total value of up to VND140 million. However, this is the dealer’s own program and does not apply to the entire system,” the consultant explained.

Honda CR-V e:HEV RS. Photo: Vinh Phuc.

Meanwhile, TC Group also successfully sold 117 Tucson units in February this year, down 44% compared to the previous month. In the first two months of the year, Hyundai Tucson sold a total of 326 vehicles, which was less than 25% of the number of vehicles this model sold in the final month of 2023.

However, this was easily predictable because in the previous year, the sales of this C-class SUV also averaged only around 200 vehicles per month. Especially during the first quarter of 2023, there was no month in which Tucson sold more than 300 vehicles.

Similar to the Ford Territory or Honda CR-V, Tucson’s supply also recorded many fluctuations in the period before Tet, which somehow affected the sales results of February. According to a staff member at a Hyundai dealership, the warehouse was completely out of stock of Tucson before Tet after a long period of applying promotions. By now, the supply has stabilized, and the sales of this CUV model can still increase slightly in the next reporting period if there are additional incentives from the manufacturer’s promotions and discounts.

Kia Sportage, Mitsubishi Outlander sell less than 100 units

Although they have always been in the slow-selling group of the segment, Kia Sportage and Mitsubishi Outlander have always maintained stable sales at a level of over 200 vehicles per month throughout the year of 2023. At the beginning of this year, the sales of both have unexpectedly decreased sharply to below 100 vehicles in January and continued to decrease further in February.

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