Car imports fell 20 per cent last month

Cars go on display at the Viet Nam Auto Expo 2010 in Ha Noi in June. Car imports in September decreased against the previous month in both volume and value. — VNA/VNS Photo Anh Ton

If these estimates prove correct, it would signal a decrease in both import volume and value for a second consecutive month, the GSO reported.

Compared with last month, the numbers marked a 20 per cent decrease in volume and 2.17 per cent decline in value.

"This month, auto traders have limited their imports as they have had to balance their stockpiles of imported vehicles which were imported several months ago," said Tran Thai Duong, head of the Marketing Department under the Kylin GX668 Joint Stock Company.

He added that companies had not imported large volumes of vehicles as they now had to pay all taxes in advance, following a Government crack-down on tax evasion in the car sales sector.

"Part payment of taxes such as VAT, import duties, and special consumption taxes in arrears is no longer allowed," Duong said.

Duong added that although import volume had decreased, there had been some positive signs that indicated consumers were still interested in new car purchases. These cars would be imported in the next few months, so import volume would increase.

Nguyen Trung Hieu, an official from the Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) said in the last months of this year, the volume of imported auto would increase.

Last month, the GSO estimated that the number of autos imported to Viet Nam totalled 4,000 units, worth US$78 million.

However these estimates proved inaccurate, and the country had imported 5,000 units worth $92 million.

The GSO explained that its estimate was based on many factors, including the number of vehicles imported in the first half of August.

However, it added, the changes in the last half of the month had been a surprise, so that an exact estimate was difficult to predict.

In previous months, the volume of imported cars had declined, but import turnover had continued to increase.

The number of cars imported to Viet Nam from May to July stood at 5,300 units, 4,600 units and 4,000 units, respectively.

In May and June, car imports cost the country $89 million each, with $96 million in July.

Experts attributed the increase in value to the new trend for luxury cars among domestic consumers