Members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) sold more than 17,600 cars in February, down 13 per cent from the previous month. — Photo vietnamnet.vn

HÀ NỘI — Members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) sold more than 17,600 cars in February, down 13 per cent from the previous month.

This is the second month this year that the association has witnessed a drop in sales, although its members continuously reduced prices of their products.

At the end of last month, prices of seven types of cars were adjusted, including imported and locally-assembled ones.

Honda Vietnam decreased its price by VNĐ80 million (US$3,501) for Accord, which was imported from Thailand. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) announced new prices for Yaris models G and E, with a drop of VNĐ47 million and VNĐ44 million, respectively. The imported Land Cruiser Prado TX-L and Land Cruiser VX also saw a revision in prices at nearly VNĐ2.17 billion and VNĐ3.65 billion, down VNĐ264 million and VNĐ70 million each.

Honda Vietnam and TMV were followed by other automakers.

Domestic automaker Thaco reduced the prices of Kia and Mazda models by between VNĐ20 million and VNĐ140 million each.

A report from the central Quảng Nam Province’s People’s Committee showed that vehicles witnessed the highest inventory volume in the province, which was nearly 49 per cent higher than the previous month and almost triple compared with the same period last year.

This was partly due to the increase in demand for vehicles before Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, which declined after the holiday. In addition, people were still waiting for prices to reduce further, especially once the import tax on vehicles from ASEAN countries dropped to zero per cent by January 1, 2018, according to the committee.

While the consumption of locally-assembled cars was showing a declining trend, the volume of imported cars had sharply increased.

According to the estimate of the General Statistics Office (GSO), Việt Nam imported some 9,000 complete built-up units in February, worth $153 million, up 29 per cent in volume in comparison with the previous month but sticking to the same value.

On average, each imported car in February was $17,000 -- $4,850 lower than January – which meant almost all imported cars were less expensive.

During the Government’s February meeting session, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc reminded relevant ministries about the rapid increase of imported vehicles in the first two months of this year, which was due to the impact of the expected import tax decline in 2018.

He said this was a warning to relevant ministries and sectors to strengthen management to ensure fair competition between imports and local auto manufacturing. — VNS