Nearly half a billion USD worth of cars were imported in the first six months.

According to a report by the General Statistics Office, in the first six months of this year, businesses and individuals in Vietnam spent nearly half a billion USD to import completely built-up (CBU) automobiles.

The growing strength of the imported car market is gradually becoming an inevitable trend as import taxes are further reduced.

Specifically, the total import value of CBU automobiles in the first half of 2014 is estimated at 25,000 units and $497 million, an increase of 44.4% in volume and 53.9% in value compared to the same period last year.

The peak was reached in May with 5,000 units imported, achieving a turnover of $106 million. It is estimated that the volume of CBU (completely built-up) cars imported in June will remain at a similar level to May, but the turnover will decrease significantly to $84 million.

Looking back over the past six months, it's clear that the import value of completely assembled automobiles into Vietnam has continuously increased. It started with 3,000 units in the first two months of the year, with import values ​​reaching $65 million and $51 million respectively. March and April saw the same number of imported vehicles (4,000), but the value in the following month was even higher than the previous month, increasing from $84 million to $89 million. And as mentioned above, the import value in May reached a peak in both quantity and value, and is likely to remain at that level until June.

The market situation closely reflects the statistics. Since the beginning of the year, authorized importers and distributors of CBU (completely built-up) automobiles have reported that purchasing power is maintaining a fairly high growth rate, ranging from 5-20%, compared to the same period last year and month-on-month.

Even among members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), there are significant differences in sales volume between domestically assembled (CKD) and CBU vehicles. For example, in the first five months of the year, while the growth rate of CKD vehicles was only 23% compared to the same period last year, the growth rate of CBU vehicles reached 75%.

Clearly, the growing strength of the imported car market is gradually establishing itself as an inevitable trend, given that import taxes are on a deeper reduction path while domestic assembly plants have yet to gain significant momentum. This is undoubtedly a major concern for the domestic automotive industry.

Import value of completely assembled automobiles in the first six months of 2014.

Quantity (pieces) Value (USD)

January 2014 3,000 65,000,000

February 2014 3,000 51,000,000

March 2014 4,000 84,000,000

April 2014 4,000 89,000,000

May 2014 5,000 106,000,000

June 2014 (estimated) 5,000 84,000,000

June 2014 (estimated) 25,000 497,000,000

Source:General Statistics Office

According to VnEconomy