Vietnamese car buyers: 'Whatever your car has, my car must have too'
Buying a car in Vietnam is not just for transportation but also a matter of prestige. The notion that "Whatever your car has, mine must have too" is pushing many people into a race for appearance, ignoring the true value of the car.
In the previous article about "Vietnamese people buy cars, choose big, spacious SUVs even though they don't use all their functions", we can see the perspective of users when they tend to like to buy large-sized cars even though the actual need is not much. From another perspective, the Vietnamese car buying psychology is quite "competitive", willing to spend money to buy a car to satisfy their pride.
Buy a car because of prestige
If in cities with strong economic development, the opportunity to buy a car becomes easier, in provinces and cities, owning a car is somewhat more difficult.
In many localities, cars are not only a means of transporting people but also "carrying" the dignity and image of individuals and families. The story of a neighbor buying a new car may be a topic of discussion among family members, and the mentality of trying to buy a car to match the neighbor's will also be ignited.
It is worth mentioning that when buying a car, many Vietnamese people often do not consider the actual needs of themselves and their families, but mainly look at other people's choices to try to buy the same or better.
Chat with PVAdolescent,Ms. TNN, living in Can Duoc district, Long An province, said with a smile: "My family is not familiar with vehicles, but when we saw our neighbor just bought a Mazda for more than 700 million VND, we also wanted to have one of the same size. The family discussed, saved up and bought a Toyota for nearly 830 million VND. Although I rarely use it, owning a car makes me more confident, and I can escape the situation of my family carrying me on a motorbike every time I go back to my hometown."
The case of Mr. NB, who lives in Quang Ngai City, is equally interesting. After his neighbor, three houses away from Mr. NB, bought a Mazda CX-5 with a sunroof, he also decided to buy a Toyota Corolla Cross equipped with a panoramic sunroof.
Mr. NB believes: "If you don't buy it, then don't buy it. If you buy it, whatever your car has, my car must have it, even better. Every time I buy a car is a difficult time, I try to buy the best things possible to limit obsolescence later." However, after a period of use, Mr. NB admitted that the hot weather in the Central region, using a car with a sunroof that is too large makes the cabin quickly hot. This makes him have to spend more money to apply high-quality heat-insulating film to the sunroof, but the effect is not significant.
Even many families, when seeing their neighbors buying ordinary cars, try to save up, borrow money to buy luxury cars worth billions, or buy old luxury cars, manufactured 5-7 years ago. After a short time of use, they are disillusioned when the maintenance and repair costs are too high, beyond the initial estimate.
Invisible pressure from the "win-lose" mentality of buying a car
In a developing country like Vietnam, the story of buying a car has many interesting perspectives when users not only compete for material value but also are affected by psychology. Seeing others owning cars, many people easily feel the urge to "upgrade", even though economic conditions are still limited.
In some regions, on important occasions such as weddings, death anniversaries, family gatherings, friends, partners... cars are also considered the "face" of the owner. The more beautiful, expensive, and bigger the car, the more the owner is silently respected by those around him.
However, buying a car based on "winning or losing" easily leads to many invisible pressures, especially when having to worry about the cost of car maintenance, care, and fuel... Many luxury car buyers have fallen into a miserable situation when faced with costs that far exceed their initial expectations.
Buying a car should be based on the purpose of use, travel habits and financial capacity of each person. In fact, many people make decisions only because of the influence of external factors. As a result, after owning the car, they feel financial pressure, realize that the vehicle is not suitable, and even have to sell or cut spending to "bear" the cost of using the car.
A car that suits an individual or family not only brings convenience and comfort but also helps improve the quality of life. On the contrary, if you buy a car just to show off "being equal to others", the car can easily become an unwanted burden.
