Car sales surge in first quarter

Chairman of leading local car firm Truong Hai Automobile JSC (Thaco) Tran Ba Duong said, “We planned to sell 100-120 units a month but we have seen orders surpass 400 units this year to date, which is straining our supply.”

A month ago, Thaco launched the locally-produced Kia New Sorento to compete with similar models produced in Vietnam such as the Toyota Fortuner, priced at around VND900 million ($42,800) and the imported Hyundai Santa Fe, at VND1.3 billion ($61,900).

The firm initially envisaged selling 100-120 Sorentos each month but sales figures have exceeded this.

Another of Thaco’s brands, Vina Mazda, sold 676 units in March alone, up 230 per cent on-year.

In the first quarter of this year 1,659 of Mazda’s different models were sold and Vina Mazda expects to sell 8,000 units by the end of the year, double that of last year.

Not just Thaco, but other car firms have also seen impressive gains in the first quarter this year.

Toyota Vietnam just rolled out its Vios model, including the Vios 1.5G, Vios 1.5E, and Vios J, which have already seen 1,500 customer orders.

Also in the small car segment, the Hyundai Grand i10 has proved alluring.

Launched in late 2013, the model fetches around VND400 million ($19,000) and was sold well from the outset with more than 1,100 orders placed in the first two weeks.

In the top-notch car segment, sales have also been upbeat. Mercedes Benz Vietnam (MBV) is a perfect example.

In the first quarter this year, Mercedes sold over 60 S-class units, fetching VND4 billion ($190,000) each.

Its imported G 63 AMG model, priced at more than VND7 billion ($330,000) had no problem finding buyers.

Its new A 45 AMG model, priced at over VND2 billion ($95,000) and launched in March, was also warmly received.

Given its success, MBV is considering launching 15 new models this year.

In the first quarter of this year imports of CBU cars reached 10,377 units, valued at $188 million and up 44 per cent in volume and 32 per cent in value on-year, reported the General Department of Customs. 

Similarly, component and parts imports rose 30 per cent on-year to $447 million.

According to a Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) forecast, around 120,000 cars will be sold this year, up 9 per cent against last year.