Posted on 29 Jun 2009
The number of cars imported into
General Statistics Office figures show sales of locally made cars were down 35 per cent over the same period last year.
Viet Nam Association of Automobile Manufacturers secretary Pham Anh Tuan said declines were due to the economic downturn and a special consumption tax hike from 30 per cent to 50 per cent on average that took effect as of April.
The association said the number of cars sold in the first five months of the year was 38,000 cars, which resulted in a 35 per cent fall in the turnover of 16 automobile manufacturers.
However, Tuan expected the local car consumption would improve in the next six months as foreign carmakers had to offer good sale prices to shift their stock.
As imported car prices decreased, local demand for the luxury product would increase, Tuan said.
In fact, the number of cars imported increased to 3,000 units a month in April and May compared with only 1,000 in the first quarter.
Ministry of Industry and Trade statistics show that among the country’s nine main import items totalling 81 per cent of the nation’s import turnover, music disks and mobile phones also saw a sharp import drop in the first five months of the year.
Meanwhile, imports of household electronics products increased by 106 per cent in the period.
Explaining the move, trade experts said that Vietnamese consumers had shifted to using essential products instead of luxury items in the context of the economic slowdown.
