HÀ NỘI — The local consumption of automobiles in June 2017 was 24,365 units, up 5 per cent in comparison to May, according to a report by the Vietnam Automobiles Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA).

The volume of passenger cars reached 14,179 units and commercial cars reached 9,137 units, 10 per cent and 1.5 per cent higher than that of May, respectively. Meanwhile, the sale of special purpose vehicles dropped by 20 per cent to 1,049 units.

As many as 17,280 units were reported to be locally-assembled with a growth rate of 4 per cent and 7,085 units were imported with a growth rate of 8 per cent.

Although the market saw an increase in sales in May (6 per cent) and June (5 per cent), it still failed to boost the market in the first half of this year, which slightly decreased by one per cent year on year to 123,660 .

The increase in recent months is seen as a good sign for auto businesses as many local customers are still waiting for import tax to drop to zero per cent within the ASEAN block from early 2018. They will then buy vehicles imported from Thailand and Indonesia, which are believed to be priced lower than locally-assembled units.

This belief has led to a fluctuation in the Vietnamese automobile market in the first half of this year. The unstable psychology of consumers made automakers and distributors offer stimulus packages, in which price reduction was seen as the most effective method, to accelerate the market. — VNS