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Car imports drop 75% in January
The import value of automobiles in the first month of this year reached only US$45 million, a 76.4 per cent decrease over December, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
The country imported roughly 2,500 automobiles, down 77.3 percent against the previous month, the GSO reported. As many as 11,000 automobiles totalling $192 million were imported December alone.
Despite the sharp decrease, the GSO said that it was a common trend as the first two months of the year often saw a sharp reduction in car imports, due to decreasing demand from the domestic market.
Industry insiders also attributed the sharp decrease to the impact of the Government’s decision to remove tax incentives from the auto industry. After months of enjoying a VAT and car registration discount, car buyers now have to pay additional charges that are estimated to increase the cost of buying a car by roughly 10-12 percent.
General director of Toyota Viet Nam Akito Tachibana said that the domestic automobile market would suffer over the first few months of the year, due to the increasing costs. However, it was expected to rebound at the end of the year so that total sales would match those of last year, he said.
Last year, the country recorded imports of roughly 76,300 automobiles, worth more than $1.17 billion, up 49.4 per cent and 12.6 percent respectively from 2008, the GSO reported.
Industry insiders forecast that automobile imports in February would continue to drop.
The general director of the Asia Automobile Liability Limited Company, Laurent Genet, said that car imports would drop sharply because of bold Government measures to restrict the import of luxury goods.
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