2 golden days to buy cars at low prices

A series of unprecedented incentives and discounts from car manufacturers and importers are only valid for the last two days of August, before the exchange rate 'bomb' is expected to 'explode', with registration fees increasing from September 1.

This August, due to the limited shopping mentality during the Ghost Month (7th lunar month, also known as Ghost Month), car manufacturers and importers have launched very strong promotional programs to help sales not decrease too much when demand decreases.

However, most businesses and consumers could not foresee the devaluation of the Chinese Yuan, forcing the State Bank to adjust the USD exchange rate twice in mid-August, pushing the current USD selling price to about 22,510 VND/USD, nearly 700 VND/USD higher than the price at the end of August and only about 40 VND/USD away from the ceiling exchange rate.

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This sudden increase in exchange rate has led to a sharp increase in the price of imported cars and imported spare parts for production (mostly paid in USD), putting strong pressure on the selling price of cars (in VND) to consumers, especially imported cars. In theory, an increase in car prices or a reduction in incentives in September is inevitable.

Faced with this reality, many market experts from car companies have stated that only in the golden days of late August can car prices remain stable at the lowest level of the year as they are now. For example, one of the most popular brands in Vietnam today, Mazda, is being offered the highest incentive policy of up to 65 million VND by Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco), depending on the car model and region.

The B-class car model that is making the market feverish is Mazda2 with an announced price of 629-689 million VND, but the highest promotional price in August is up to 27 million VND; the actual selling price according to VnMedia in Hanoi is about 609 million VND for the sedan version and 679 million VND for the hatchback version.

Similarly, Mazda3 is being discounted up to 32 million VND compared to the announced price of 729-862 million VND. Currently, the 1.5 AT sedan version in Hanoi is selling for 718 million VND, the 1.5 AT hatchback version is 738 million VND and the 2.0 AT version is 831 million VND. Mazda CX-5 is also priced below 1 billion VND for the first time. Currently, the lowest price in Hanoi is about 986 million VND, a reduction of 50 million VND compared to the announced price.

The Mazda model with the highest discount in August is the Mazda6 with the highest discount of 65 million VND from the announced price of 983 million VND - 1.144 billion VND. Currently in Hanoi, the selling price of the Mazda6 2.0 version is only 930 million VND. The BT-50 pickup truck is also being discounted by 50-60 million VND compared to the announced price...

Kia Morning sells better than ever in 2015

Another brand manufactured, assembled and distributed by Thaco, Kia, is also offering deep discounts and incentives this August. For example, Kia's best-selling C-class model, the K3, is not only discounted to only 590 - 700 million VND, but also enjoys the highest incentive of up to 30 million VND, depending on the version and region.

In the 7-seat SUV segment, Sorento is being heavily discounted by Thaco by up to 65 million VND compared to the announced price of 873 million - 1.01 billion VND; the crossover Rondo is discounted by 24 million VND compared to the newly announced price, which has been reduced compared to before, to 683 - 783 million VND. A series of completely imported cars such as Rio (sedan and hatchback), Cerato hatchback, Optima have incentives in August from 18-30 million VND...

Not only Mazda and Kia, but also a series of other passenger car brands such as Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet, Mitsubishi... are being offered the biggest price incentives of the year by importers and assemblers.

Unprecedented preferential policies and the psychology of buying cars with fees (in September, the registration fee for cars with 9 seats or less increased from 2 to 11 million VND) are also causing the sales of some car models to reach the highest level of the year, despite the Ngau month psychology. For example, according to our research, although August is not over yet, Kia Morning sales in the month have exceeded 600 units, a record level since the beginning of 2015.

It is known that the pressure of exchange rates is causing headaches for manufacturers and importers, and it is expected that many imported car models will have their prices adjusted upwards from next September. For its part, Thaco representative said that it will continue to cut costs and profits to maintain preferential levels for customers (although it may be much lower than in August) and not consider increasing car prices.

According to VnMedia