Imported cars are flooding into Vietnam, despite preferential registration fees for domestic cars.

From September 1, domestic car models will receive a 50% reduction in registration fees from the State, applicable for 3 months. This increases competitive pressure on products that are not assembled domestically, but distributors have not reduced imports, and have even increased them.

According to data released by the General Department of Customs, the country imported 18,405 complete cars of all kinds in September, with a total turnover of nearly 378 million USD. Compared to the previous month, imported cars increased by 22.2% in volume and 26.4% in value.

In the first half of October, the number of imported cars arriving at Vietnamese ports remained high, reaching 9,227 units, with a turnover value of 190.7 million USD. Of which, cars with 9 seats or less still accounted for the majority, reaching 7,745 vehicles.

Ô tô nhập khẩu ồ ạt về Việt Nam, bất chấp xe nội địa được ưu đãi trước bạ - 1 — From the beginning of the year to October 15, a total of 134,272 completely built-up cars were imported to Vietnam, with a total turnover of 2.76 billion USD (Photo: Hoang Ha).

In the first 9 months of 2024, Vietnam imported the most cars from Indonesia (50,890 units), followed by Thailand (47,580 units) and China (21,948 units). Of which, the number of cars originating from the billion-people country increased sharply in 2024, surpassing the results of both 2022 (17,333 units) and 2023 (11,002 units).

This result comes from the massive entry of Chinese automakers into the market in 2024, including many big names such as BYD and GAC. Most recently, Aion, a pure electric car brand under the Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC Group) with its first two products, the ES and Y Plus.

Ô tô nhập khẩu ồ ạt về Việt Nam, bất chấp xe nội địa được ưu đãi trước bạ - 2 — The Aion Y Plus is in the C-segment crossover segment, with a suggested retail price of VND888 million. Meanwhile, the Aion ES is positioned in the D-segment sedan segment, with a price of VND788 million (Photo: Aion).

Experts say that there are two main reasons why car manufacturers are still actively importing cars to Vietnam in the context of preferential registration fees for domestic cars. First, the government's policy to support domestic cars will only last for 3 months until the end of November.

Second, the Vietnamese automobile market has entered the year-end shopping season and is preparing for the Lunar New Year. Car manufacturers often prepare adequate supplies to meet the increasing demand of users.

The abundant supply also creates conditions for car manufacturers and dealers to apply incentives for imported products, increasing competitiveness with domestic cars. For example, the Honda CR-V e:HEV, this version in previous months was often out of stock, at times "lost", but now has incentives at the dealer.