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Car sales continue to drop in July
The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturer’s Association (VAMA) has reported that its members sold 8,458 cars in July, a fall of over 1,000 units compared to June.
According to VAMA, July 2008 sales were 31% higher than that of July 2007, with the sales of touring cars up by 60% and commercial cars 184%. However, in comparison with June 2008, sales fell.
Toyota Vietnam sold 2,431 units, an increase of nearly 200 cars over June, taking the lead in the number of cars sold. The Innova model still sold well, with 1,523 units, 108 more than June.
Ford sold 459 cars, 13 units more than June, while Isuzu sold 304 cars, compared to 173 units the previous month.
Companies that suffered a sharp decrease in car sales include GM-Daewoo with 725 cars sold compared to 1,009 in June. Only 119 Captiva cars were sold compared to 379 in June.
Honda Vietnam sold 746 cars, a reduction of 44 units over June, but its Civic model took the lead among middling-class sedans in the market as it sold better than Toyota’s Altis and Ford’s Focus.
The sales of commercial cars also plunged. Truong Hai Auto’s July sales were reported at 1,008 units, compared to 1,679 the previous month, while Vinaxuki witnessed a fall of 137 units compared to June.
Automobile companies say the above numbers are cars that they delivered to customers; many of the units were ordered several months prior.
Experts predict that as of August, sales of cars will drastically decrease because some firms have raised car prices and registration fees have increased from 5% to 10 and 15%.
On August 1, Honda Vietnam announced the prices of its Civic models would increase by VND35 to VND39 million. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Vietnam stated it would reduce the prices of some models, both ones assembled in Vietnam and imported, from August 8-25.
Though sales in July fell, total sales in the January-July period were 77,067 cars, while the whole of 2007 saw only 80,000 units sold.
Vinamotor set a record when it sold 15,859 cars in this period compared to only 5,476 units in the entire 2007. The figures for Truong Hai Auto were 12,303 and 11,534 for the same periods.
VNN
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