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Tag: car import

  • Imported cars flood local market despite of poor purchasing power

    Imported cars flood local market despite of poor purchasing power

    Vietnamese firms spent over $903 million in the first quarter importing 41,780 completely-built-up (CBU) cars, according to a report by the General Statistics Office (GSO).

    The cumulative import turnover of CBU cars in Q1 2023 increased by 76% in volume and 60.8% in value compared to the same period last year.

    In March, 15,000 cars worth $332 million were imported into Vietnam, representing a year-on-year increase of 48.8% in volume and 48.5% in value.

    Despite the increasing number of imported cars, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) said that sales for the whole market in the first two months reached just over 17,300 units, due to poor purchasing power.

    Local auto experts said this was an unusual and ominous signal as pressure from automobile inventory remains high.

    An uncompleted statistic shows that Vietnam’s inventory of cars reached 38,000 units. Facing the gloomy prospect of the market, VAMA has recently proposed that the Government halve the registration fee for locally-assembled or manufactured cars during the first half of the year to boost market demand.

    In a letter sent to the Prime Minister, both the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) and the Vietnam Association of Mechanical Industry (VAMI) also jointly asked for an extension of the deadline to pay excise tax.

    The Vehicles Importers Vietnam Association (VIVA) has raised its voice to ask for fair treatment after hearing that the Government asked the Ministry of Finance and other relevant ministries to devise a 50% cut on auto registration fees for locally assembled or manufactured cars.

     

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  • Mercedes EV to launch in Korea

    Mercedes EV to launch in Korea

    Mercedes-Benz Korea is setting its sights on the local eco-friendly auto market with the introduction of an all-electric vehicle (EV) along with hybrid offerings this year. The Korean unit of the German brand announced Thursday that it will be introducing 14 new models to the local market this year including the EQC, the first model under its electric EQ brand, as well as four plug-in hybrid EVs at a New Year’s press conference at the Hotel Shilla in central Seoul.

    “2019 will be the year of the EQ,” said Dimitris Psillakis, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea. “We will do our utmost to provide the best products and services in the upcoming era of future mobility.”

    The premium electric SUV EQC, unveiled globally last September, is the German automaker’s current flagship EV. The promised hybrid models will range from SUVs to sedans, according to the automaker.

    Along with its entry into the local EV market, the German brand announced that it is also preparing its charging infrastructure.

    Mercedes-Benz Korea said EQC buyers will have access to its combined charging network, which will offer a wide range of charging stations nationwide. EQC drivers will also have access to a one-on-one concierge service that will recommend the nearest charging station to drivers.

    Mercedes-Benz Korea’s push into eco-friendly vehicles comes as it was embroiled in controversy last year regarding its vehicles’ emissions certifications.

    Last month, the automaker said it will appeal a court decision after it was found guilty of violating environmental and customs laws regarding the emissions certification process. The company was fined 2.81 billion won ($2.5 million) and an employee in charge of certifications was handed an eight-month sentence.

    Regarding the legal action, Psillakis promised that the company is following up on the newest regulations.

    “We have a very different changing and toughening regulatory environment around us,” said Psillakis. “We place processes to safeguard so that we can adapt to the new regulations as fast as possible.”

    The company also addressed concerns surrounding recall plans for its vehicles equipped with faulty Takata airbags, saying that it is planning a mass recall in the second quarter of this year of around 30,000 vehicles.

    The German automaker was the best-selling imported brand last year, selling 70,798 vehicles in the country.

    With last year’s sales, the Korean market is the fifth-largest market for the brand after China, the United States, Germany and Britain.

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  • Hyundai Motor sells more than 10 million cars in China

    Hyundai Motor sells more than 10 million cars in China

    Hyundai Motor, Korea’s largest carmaker, said Sunday that accumulated sales of its vehicles in China surpassed the 10 million unit mark in 2018. The milestone was reached 16 years after the company entered the key neighboring country, which has since become the largest market for new cars in the world.

    Hyundai first sold the midsize Moinca, a localized version of the Sonata, in the first year, which was followed by the Elantra. By 2008, it had increased its lineup to six, with sales exceeding 1 million units. In 2013, the carmaker said it sold 1 million vehicles in the world’s most populous country, with some 5 million cars being sold overall. Up until 2016, annual car sales exceeded the 1 million mark, although this plunged 31.3 percent on year to 785,000 units in 2017, amid a diplomatic dispute over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in Korea.

    For 2018, the carmaker said Hyundai sales edged up 0.6 percent from a year earlier to a little over 790,000, with numbers for this year not looking too promising.

  • Hyundai sales ups a bit in December

    Hyundai sales ups a bit in December

    Hyundai Motor, Korea’s largest carmaker by sales, said Wednesday its December sales rose 0.4 percent from a year earlier on weak overseas demand. Hyundai sold 410,326 vehicles last month, up from 408,637 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales jumped 22 percent to 64,835 units last month from 53,361 a year ago. Overseas sales fell 2.8 percent to 345,491 from 355,276 during the same period, the carmaker said.

    The slowing global economy and lower vehicle demand from China and the United States, the world’s two biggest auto markets, restricted monthly sales results, it said.

    To boost sales, Hyundai launched the all-new Santa Fe SUV and the face-lifted Tucson SUV in the United States and other markets last year. But the SUV models did not greatly boost overall demand for the carmaker.

    For all of 2018, sales gained 1.8 percent to 4.59 million autos from 4.51 million units a year earlier.

    Kia Motors said its December sales rose 6.3 percent from a year earlier on improved overseas demand for its vehicles.

    Kia sold a total of 241,199 vehicles in December, up from 226,875 units a year ago. Domestic sales fell 13 percent to 42,200 from 46,502 during the same period, while overseas sales rose 10 percent to 198,999 from 180,373, the company said in a statement.

    For all of 2018, sales gained 2.4 percent to 2.81 million units from 2.75 million in the year-ago period, it said.

    GM Korea, the Korean unit of General Motors, said its December sales fell 6.7 percent from a year earlier due to weak demand for its models.

    GM Korea sold 42,424 vehicles in December, down from 45,466 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

    Domestic sales declined 12 percent to 10,428 units last month from 11,852 a year ago. Exports were down 4.8 percent to 31,996 from 33,614 during the same period, it said.

    For all of 2018, sales dropped 12 percent to 462,871 autos from 524,547 a year earlier, the statement said.

    To revive sales, the carmaker plans to introduce 15 vehicles into the local market over the next five years. It launched the U.S.-made Equinox SUV and the upgraded Chevy Spark minicar last year.

    The Traverse SUV will be the next model to be added to its lineup.

    Renault Samsung Motors’ December sales plunged 30 percent from a year earlier on weaker overseas demand for its vehicles.

    Renault Samsung sold 18,462 vehicles in December, down from 26,515 units the previous year, the company said in a statement.

    Domestic sales rose 8.6 percent to 10,805 units last month from 9,953 units a year ago. But exports nosedived 54 percent to 7,657 autos from 16,562 during the same period last year, the statement said.

    For the whole of 2018, sales dropped 18 percent on year to 227,577 from 276,808, it said.

    The company’s current lineup includes the SM3 compact, the all-electric SM3 Z.E. sedan, the QM3 small SUV, and the SM5, SM6 and SM7 sedans.

    France’s Renault S.A. has an 80 percent stake in Renault Samsung

    SsangYong Motor sales fell 0.2 percent last month from a year earlier on weak exports.

    SsangYong Motor sold 14,177 vehicles in December, down from 14,208 units a year earlier, due to weak overseas demand for its vehicles, the company said in a statement.

    Domestic sales edged up 0.1 percent to 10,656 units in December from 10,647 a year earlier. But exports backtracked 1.1 percent to 3,521 units from 3,561 during the same period, it said.

    For the whole of 2018, the maker of the flagship G4 Rexton and compact Tivoli SUVs sold a combined 141,995 vehicles, down 1.2 percent from 143,685 a year earlier, the company said.

    Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra owns a 72.85 percent stake in SsangYong Motor.

  • Vietnam’s car imports down 20 pct in 2018

    Vietnam’s car imports down 20 pct in 2018

    Vietnam imported 72,650 cars this year, down nearly 20 percent over 2017, according to the Vietnam Customs. The import value of cars exceeded $1.64 billion this year, up 21 percent year-on-year, the agency said. Thailand and Indonesia remain major suppliers of Vietnam’s imported cars. From Thailand alone, Vietnam has imported more than 52,170 vehicles worth a combined $1.04 billion since the beginning of the year.

    According to customs data, from December 7-13, car imports slowed down by 701 units from the previous week, totaling 2,833 vehicles. Total import value is reported to be $67 million.

    Vietnam’s population is around 93 million, larger than South Korea, but car consumption is only around 300,000 units a year, Mike Dunne, an independent industry analyst who has spent more than three decades in Asia, told U.S. television channel CNBC recently.

    Most cars sold in Vietnam are foreign brands assembled in the country from kits. But a series of free trade agreements have reduced import duties and are opening up the market. A 30 percent import tax on cars from other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries was scrapped this year.

    There are only 358 businesses in the auto industry in Vietnam compared to 2,500 in Thailand, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The ministry also said that Vietnam imports over 90 percent of auto parts.

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  • Renault to start making Twizy cars in Korea from next year

    Renault to start making Twizy cars in Korea from next year

    Renault Samsung Motors, the Korean unit of French carmaker Renault S.A., is planning to start producing the Twizy ultra-small electric car in its sole domestic plant next year, industry sources said Monday. Renault Samsung, Busan Metropolitan City, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy are expected to sign an initial agreement this month to begin manufacturing Twizys, which are classified as heavy quadricycles in some countries, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

    He said assembly will begin “sometime during the 2019” at the carmaker’s plant in Busan, some 453 kilometers (281.5 miles) southeast of Seoul.

    This year, Renault Samsung has sold most of the 1,000 Twizys that were produced in its parent Renault’s plant in Valladolid, Spain, and shipped to Korea, a company spokesman said.

    The company plans to roll out up to 15,000 Twizys annually for domestic sales and exports to Asian markets, another person familiar with the matter said.

    Renault Samsung didn’t confirm the plan.

  • H1 car imports slow down to a crawl in Vietnam

    H1 car imports slow down to a crawl in Vietnam

    More than 126,000 autos were sold in Vietnam in the first half of the year, 106,600 of them locally assembled and over 19,000 imported ones.

    The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) says that sales of locally assembled cars increased 10 percent over the same period last year, while that of imported cars plunged 49 percent.

    As a whole, sales were down 2 percent over H1 in 2017, VAMA said.

    It noted that the decline in sales of imported cars was mainly because of a government decree that took effect this year, setting tough conditions for car imports.

    The decree stipulates that traders will only be permitted to import automobiles if they can provide valid vehicle registration certificates issued by authorities from the countries of origin.

    Original quality control certificates for each vehicle and letters of authorization regarding recalls of defective vehicles from the manufacturers are also be required, along with copies of quality assurance certificates provided by the countries of origin.

    The regulation also requires importers to have one car from each batch shipped to Vietnam to go through emissions and safety tests.

    The decree was met with strong opposition from importers who said that it cost them more time and money, but the Ministry of Industry and Trade countered it by saying the new rules would protect consumers and facilitate fair competition.

    However, in March this year, the government removed the condition for local testing of autos, and June auto imports saw a 45.6 percent surge dominated by Thailand.

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  • Vietnam’s auto imports in record drop in January

    Vietnam’s auto imports in record drop in January

    Some 1,000 cars worth US$94 million were imported to the Vietnamese market in January, reports the General Statistics Office.

    This marks a record drop of 86.2 per cent in volume and 38 per cent in value compared to the previous month.

    The drop comes after auto businesses, including Toyota Motors Vietnam and Honda, stopped importing autos due to the government’s Decree 116, which tightens control over quality, technical safety and environment protection of imported autos.

    Speaking at the government’s monthly press conference on February 2, minister and chairman of the Government Office Mai Tiến Dũng, said a number of embassies and organisations had sent letters to the Prime Minister proposing him to direct relevant ministries and sectors to reconsider the decree.

    Dũng said the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association had submitted four letters of recommendation to the government to remove difficulties, saying that the provisions in the decree were inappropriate.

    Meanwhile, several associations, such as Japan Business Association in Việt Nam, and foreign direct investment joint ventures have repeatedly proposed the government to delay the implementation of Decree 116 by at least six months.

    Dũng said there were three major issues arising out of the decree troubling auto businesses and organisations.

    The first is that the importers must obtain a Vehicle Type Approval (VTA) certificate issued by authorities in the exporting country. Dũng explained that VTA was not a certificate of the State body but of authorised agencies or associations of the exporting countries, which aimed to ensure the origin, quality and value of the vehicle.

    Such authorised agencies and associations will also be responsible for recalling the vehicles if they have faults during the production process. This is to ensure the rights and interests of automakers and consumers alike, Dũng said.

    As for the second issue, Dũng said the decree states that the inspection agency will randomly select one unit of each batch to check. The check will be conducted on every batch of imported autos. This regulation will prove to be more costly and time-consuming in testing vehicles. And it is the customer who will have to incur the cost as businesses will ensure their profit.

    Dũng said the government was considering the issue.

    The third problem posed by Decree 116 is that it requires automakers to have a testing route of 800m, with minimum 400m straight, before rolling out the vehicles in the market. According to automakers, this condition will require them to pay more, including registration fee, cost of land and cost of building testing routes.

    Dũng said Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc had assigned the Government Office and relevant ministries and sectors to consider the above-mentioned problems. The recommendations would not only ensure the government’s demand on domestic auto production but also the country’s implementation of international standards that Việt Nam was committed to, Dũng said.

    Decree 116’s regulations are being evaluated as a technical barrier for auto importers to overcome. Dũng, however, said all countries were applying necessary measures to ensure the quality of imported products as well as the rights and interests of consumers.

    Further explaining the issue, Dũng said a batch of BMW autos previously imported to Việt Nam was found with a lot of problems related to procedure and origin of the vehicles, in addition to the fact that they were used cars. “If we do not check them carefully, the consumers will be the most vulnerable,” he said.

     

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