At a car-assembly company (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam imported 60,000 cars in April, a decrease of 50.6 percent compared with the previous month, according to the General Department of Customs.
Import turnover dropped by 32.3 percent from the previous month to 152 million USD.
In the first four months of this year, 33,000 cars were imported worth 710 million USD, representing a year-on-year fall of 35.2 percent in volume and 36.6 percent in value.
The department said the dip was mainly due to the social distancing order imposed from April 1-22 to curb the spread of COVID-19.
According to the Vietnam Automobiles Manufacturers Association (VAMA), Vietnam’s inventory of locally-assembled cars rose while imported spare parts fell.
The sector is expected to see challenges as a number of local car-assembly factories have halted operations under the instructions of their overseas parent companies.
Vietnam has implemented free trade agreements in which the import tax rate for cars originating from ASEAN countries has dropped to zero percent.
Vietnam's car sales last year rose 12 percent over 2018 to 322,300 units, according to VAMA./.
