The Rise of Imported Cars in Vietnam: A Record-Breaking Trend

The latest report from the General Department of Vietnam Customs revealed that Vietnam imported a total of 17,233 completely built-up (CBU) automobiles in July, with a trade value of nearly 344 million USD.

Compared to the previous period, the number of automobiles imported into Vietnam increased by 8.5%, while the trade value also rose by approximately 10.6%.

This marks the highest number of automobile imports into Vietnam since the beginning of the year. Previously, in the reports for March and June, the number of CBU automobile imports into Vietnam had also increased to nearly 15,900 units.

The report from the General Department of Vietnam Customs also showed that, cumulatively, the Vietnamese car market has received 91,637 CBU automobiles of foreign origin since the beginning of the year. The total import turnover of CBU automobiles after seven months has reached nearly 1.9 billion USD.

Thus, the average import value of automobiles in Vietnam up to the end of July was approximately 20,647 USD/unit, equivalent to 517 million VND per imported automobile.

The number of automobiles imported into Vietnam reached a record high since the beginning of the year
Situation of CBU automobile imports in Vietnam since the beginning of the year (Data: General Department of Vietnam Customs)
Label	January	February	March	April	May	June	July
	cars	6955	9650	15860	11565	14941	15890	17233

Also in July, the number of automobiles imported from Thailand reached 8,981 units, equivalent to more than 52% of the total number of automobiles imported into Vietnam in the same period.

Thus, in the July report, Thailand was the country that provided the most automobiles to Vietnamese customers, as the number of vehicles imported from Indonesia was reported at 5,243 units, and the figure for China was 2,524 units.

However, if calculated from the beginning of the year, Indonesia still holds the number one position in terms of the number of vehicles supplied to the Vietnamese market. After seven months, Indonesia has completed the export of a total of 38,040 automobiles of all kinds to Vietnam, with a trade value of over 557 million USD.

In the same period, Thailand completed the export of 32,717 CBU automobiles to Vietnam with a total trade value of more than 628 million USD. China was the third-ranked country in terms of the number of automobiles supplied to the Vietnamese market, with 17,235 units and a trade value of more than 521 million USD.

Although only 1,422 automobiles completed customs clearance procedures to enter Vietnam, the group of Japanese cars had the highest average import value after seven months, reaching 59,002 USD/unit, equivalent to nearly 1.48 billion VND/unit.

This is not surprising, as many imported car models from Japan have very high values, typically the Toyota Alphard (4.37 billion VND), Toyota Land Cruiser (4.286 billion VND), and Honda Civic Type R (2.399 billion VND).

In the future, the Subaru Crosstrek is also likely to be present in Vietnam in the form of CBU imports from Japan. The Subaru Forester and Suzuki Swift are also models that will soon be imported from Japan due to changes in the production and business strategies of the manufacturers.

The Toyota Land Cruiser, imported from Japan, is a high-value vehicle.

The record-high number of imported vehicles in July was largely influenced by the strong sales performance of this group of automobiles in the Vietnamese market.

Since April, the Vietnamese car market has witnessed four consecutive months where the sales of imported automobiles were slightly higher than that of domestically assembled vehicles. As a result, the sales balance in Vietnam up to the end of July is temporarily tilted towards imported vehicles.

Specifically, the data of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) showed that the cumulative sales of imported automobiles in Vietnam are currently at 82,167 units, while domestically assembled vehicles reached a sales figure of 81,637 units in the same period.

The Mitsubishi Xpander is currently one of the best-selling models in Vietnam, with sales of 9,265 units in the first seven months. Of this, the group of imported Xpander units accounted for a sales figure of 8,336 units, equivalent to nearly 90% of the total sales of this small MPV model.

The Mitsubishi Xforce, along with the Ford Everest and Toyota Yaris Cross, are the most prominent names that are being fully imported into Vietnam. After seven months, the Xforce recorded sales of 5,638 units, while the Ford Everest and Toyota Yaris Cross sold 5,393 and 4,992 units, respectively.