List of tax-free cars about to 'invade' the Vietnamese market

Decree 116/2017 ND-CP sets out strict regulations for imported vehicles such as requiring automobile importing enterprises to provide quality certificates for automobile types imported to Vietnam; must have written confirmation or documents proving that the enterprise is authorized to represent foreign automobile manufacturing and assembling enterprises to recall imported automobiles in Vietnam; or when granted a license to import automobiles, the enterprise must maintain business conditions and ensure the implementation of responsibilities for warranty, maintenance, recall, and recovery of imported automobiles.

This new regulation takes effect from January 1, 2018. From this point on, Vietnam abolishes the import tax on cars according to the common regulations from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from 30% to 0%.

After receiving the Vehicle Type Approval (VTA) certificate from the Thai Government, Honda has imported a batch of more than 2,000 cars including CR-V, Civic and Accord. It is known that this batch has passed the quality inspection procedures. Honda Vietnam is expected to bring the cars to dealers in the last days of March for delivery to customers.

Up to now, some car manufacturers have received VTA from the Indonesian Government and submitted it to the Ministry of Transport. It is expected that in early April, tax-free cars from Thailand will be imported en masse.

However, after imported cars arrive at the port, customers still have to wait a while for car manufacturers to complete the next procedures from customs clearance, inspection, transportation, etc. before selling them on the market.

List of tax-free cars to be sold in Vietnam:

B-class sedan: Suzuki Ciaz, Mitsubishi Attrage.

C-class sedan: Honda Civic.

D-class sedan: Honda Accord.

Class A Hatchback: Mitsubishi Mirage, Suzuki Celerio, Toyota Wigo.

Class B Hatchback: Toyota Yaris, Mitsubishi Mirage, Honda Jazz.

C-class crossover: Honda CR-V.

D-class SUV: Toyota Fortuner, Ford Everest, Isuzu mu-X, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport.

Pickup trucks: Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colorado, Mazda BT-50, Toyota Hilux, Mitsubishi Triton, Isuzu D-Max, Nissan Navara.

MPV: Toyota Avanza, Suzuki Ertiga.

Certainly, after all these imported car models are sold on the market, the price level of popular cars in Vietnam will decrease significantly compared to present.