GSO reports sharp decreases in car imports

The car import turnover in the first quarter of 2009 saw a sharp decrease over the same period of the last year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

It is estimated that over 6,000 cars have been imported under the form of complete built unit (CBU) in the first three months of the year, which had the import turnover of nearly US $102 million.

The CBU imports in the first two months of the year were 3,500 cars worth US $62 million.

In March 2009 alone, according to GSO, the CBU import volume increased slightly with 2,500 cars imported and the import turnover of US $60 million, nearly equal to the turnover of the two previous months.

As such, if comparing with the same period of the last year, CBU imports saw the decrease of 71.2% in quantities and 72.4% in import turnover.

In the first quarter of 2008, Vietnam imported some 15,000 cars with the import turnover of US $293 million.

The figures about imports and import turnover showed that the import car market in the first quarter of 2009 sharply reflects the tax policies of the Government of Vietnam.

The imports decreased sharply in the first two months of the year, when the domestic market fell gloomy due to the influences of the global economic recession. However, the imports increased again in March, especially in terms of value.

The increase in imports in March has been attributed to the fact that the luxury tax will take effect as of April 1. In order to avoid the tax, businesses and people have been trying to purchase cars, including imports, before the new tax comes into effect.

As the result of the new tax luxury tax rates, from April 1 the prices of 6-9 seated cars and the car models with five seats and less which have a high cylinder capacity of over 3,000 cubic metres are expected to increase drastically. As for import cars, these will be luxurious and super luxurious models.

It is expected that from April, if there is no big change in tax policies, import cars will be on the decrease which was seen in the first two months of the year.

VietNamNet/TBKTVN

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