Scooter Sales Slump, But Prices Stay Sky-High.

Scooter prices remain high despite a dip in sales. Photo by Boi Ha.

In the first month of 2023, Honda Vietnam reported a significant dip in sales for its scooter models.

Sales Dip but Prices Don’t

Specifically, according to Honda Vietnam’s sales report, only 222,545 scooters were sold in the country during January, marking a 13.1% decrease from the previous month and a 16% drop from the same period last year.

The Honda Vision, the brand’s best-selling scooter, followed this trend, with a 10.3% decrease in sales compared to the previous month and a 5.7% drop from the same period last year.

However, the actual selling prices of this top-selling scooter model in Vietnam show no signs of cooling down.

According to Zing‘s research, the Honda Vision’s prices at dealerships range from VND 32.99 million to VND 39.99 million. The cheapest option is the Standard version, while the Sports version is priced at VND 39.99 million.

The Sports version of the Honda Vision is priced at nearly VND 40 million. Photo by Phuc Hau.

Among these, the Special version of the Honda Vision is currently out of stock, while customers interested in the Premium version can only choose between two color combinations: white-black and red-black.

For the SH Mode, the actual selling price of the Standard version is VND 57.69 million. The Premium version is offered at VND 66.19 million at dealerships, while the Special version is priced at VND 67.99 million.

As for the Sports version, the actual dealership price stands at VND 74.19 million. This means that, compared to the official listed price, the Honda SH Mode is being sold for nearly VND 10 million more for the highest-end version.

This dealership reported that they have temporarily run out of stock for the Air Blade 160cc. For the 125cc version, the Special version of the Honda Air Blade is priced at VND 43.39 million, while the Standard version costs VND 42.49 million.

Regarding Yamaha’s scooter models, the listed prices for the Janus range from VND 28.18 million to VND 32.76 million. Thus, the actual prices for the Standard version don’t deviate much from the listed price, while the Limited version is sold for less than the official price.

Yamaha scooter prices don’t deviate much from the listed prices. Photo by Phuc Hau.

At this dealership, the prices of the new Yamaha Grande range from VND 46.8 million to VND 53.6 million, which means there’s only a VND 1.7 million difference from the listed price for the highest-end version.

“There’s a lot of stock available, but we haven’t seen a significant improvement in sales,” admitted a staff member.

Supply Dip

According to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Vietnam imported motorcycles and components worth a total of 52.37 million USD in the first month of 2023. This figure is 18.9% lower than in December 2022 and 11.2% lower than in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam shows that, in January, the country produced and assembled an estimated 228,400 motorcycles. This domestic assembly output is only equivalent to 64.5% of the production volume in December 2022 and about 67.9% of what the Vietnamese motorcycle industry achieved in the same period last year.

According to a report by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA), the sales of the five members in 2022 reached more than 3 million vehicles, up 20.49% compared to the 12-month period of 2021.

This sales figure means that, on average, more than 8,200 motorcycles from the five VAMM members, including Honda Vietnam, Piaggio Vietnam, Vietnam Suzuki, SYM Vietnam, and Yamaha Motor Vietnam, were sold every day in 2022.