Foreign exchange rates eat into car sales
Total sales by members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers
Association (VAMA) reached just 7,889 units in February, a decrease of
24 percent from January sales, with passenger car and SUV sales
declining by an even more substantial 35-37 percent, according to VAMA
representative Nguyen Anh Tuan.
January auto sales had
totalled 10,424 units, an increase of 48 percent over the prior January
but still 17 percent lower than sales in December 2010.
Imports of completely-built units (CBUs) fell from 6,100 units in
January to just 4,500 in February, according to figures from the General
Statistics Office.
Meanwhile, marques such as Toyota,
Ford, GM Daewoo, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Hyundai have all increased
their retail prices substantially since the devaluation of the
Vietnamese dong against the US dollar last month.
Toyota
's sticker prices have risen by 34-101 million VND (1,619-4,809 USD),
while Ford has hiked prices by 37-64 million VND (1,761-3,047 USD) and
Honda by 13-32 million VND (619,000-1,523 USD) per vehicle. A buyer of a
Honda Accord 3.5 AT, for instance, can now expect to pay 50 million VND
more.
Tran Kien, a car dealer on Le Van Luong Street
in Hanoi , said auto sales slowed substantially in February. Many
automobile dealers were also ceasing imports of new cars with the aim of
first selling existing inventories, he said.
The
continued rise of the dollar, higher interest rates on consumer loans,
and higher VAT and registration fees would add up to a sluggish car
market this year, Kien predicted. /.