|
Luxury cars still being marketed despite economic downturn
Despite the sharp falls in car sales in the last few months, automobile assemblers and importers are still launching new models onto the market in an effort to lure more customers. These include many luxury models.
Mercedes Benz Vietnam has recently introduced GLK, a completely new model of Mercedes Benz in Vietnam. The car is a luxury model designed for the inner city, but has an SUV engine.
Mercedes Benz Vietnam’s General Director Udo Loersch said that Vietnam is the only country in the world which produces the new GLK series under the mode of assembling CKD parts (complete knock down). Mercedes Benz Vietnam has injected $3.3 million in installing the production line to assemble this series.
According to the automobile manufacturer, GLK will not be launched onto the market until early June, but 200 clients have already registered to purchase cars. The GLK car has the sale price of $77,900, or nearly 1.4 billion dong.
Another German luxury brand name automobile manufacturer, BMW, is also trying to bring a new product to Vietnam through its official distributor Euro Auto. The new car is expected to have the sale price of over 1.078 billion dong.
The BMW 320i, which is said to have a young and sporty style, reportedly already has over 100 clients.
According to Euro Auto’s General Director Huynh Du An, Euro Auto hopes to sell 300-400 cars of this model this year.
Recently, Toyota Vietnam introduced SUV Fortuner with sale prices as high as 814 million dong, or $45,800, depending on engine type.
This is the second model Toyota has introduced in Vietnam’s market, after Innova, as part of its global multipurpose vehicle (MPV) project.
The average sales of the model have been 500 cars a month, while the manufacturer initially targeted only 150.
Toyota Vietnam has said that this month it also plans to market a new version of Altis, a sedan model which has been attracting many clients, especially as the car ownership registration tax has been slashed.
Experts believe that as the car ownership registration tax has been cut by 50 percent (the rates are now 6 percent in Hanoi and 5 percent in other localities instead of 12 and 10 percent), car sales in the upcoming months will improve.
If purchasing a Toyota Fortuner V at 814 million dong ($45,800), buyers will save 50 million when they register the car in Hanoi.
Besides launching new car models, automobile manufacturers have also marketed new versions of the models which have been selling well in Vietnam.
Honda Vietnam, for example, after selling 12,000 Civics on the domestic market within 33 months, has launched another version of Civic with a more youthful and sporty design.
Meanwhile, Ford Vietnam has also announced it will market a seven-seat version of Everest 2009 by the end of June. This proves to be one of the most successful models of Ford in Vietnam with 11,600 cars sold since May 2005.
VietNamNet, TBKTSG
|
