Vietnam auto sales drop 22 pct in H1 on taxes
HANOI - Vehicle sales by 11 foreign-backed auto makers in Vietnam fell 22 percent to 12,652 units in January-June from a year earlier, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association said on Wednesday.
Car sales have been falling since January 2005, when higher consumption taxes were imposed on domestically assembled vehicles.
Toyota Motor Corp. dominates the market, selling 5,755 cars, up 3 percent from a year earlier as if offered aggressive rebates and new models such as the Innova crossover.
Ford Motor Co. saw its sales drop 1 percent year-on-year to 1,715 cars, pickups and sport utility vehicles, while other auto makers, including GM Daewoo and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. , faced sharp sales declines of up to nearly 66 percent.
Japanese car maker Honda Motor Co. Ltd. said it would start selling its first cars in Vietnam in August, beginning with the Civic sedan models.
Vietnam's annual per capita income remains one of the world's lowest at around $640, but its car prices are among the highest because of high tariffs and taxes. A Toyota Camry sells for around $50,000 compared with $20,000 in Japan.
Dealers said only 40 used cars, most of which were luxury brands such as BMW, Lexus and Mercedes Benz, had been imported since May when the government removed an import ban due to high import tariffs.
The fall in sales and slow imports of vehicles had resulted in a tax revenue loss of 2.2 trillion dong ($138 million) to the state budget, the Finance Ministry said.
Reuters - July 5, 2006
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