With 94,610 vehicles worth $2.3 billion, the number of completely assembled cars imported in the first 10 months of 2015 was 3.5 times higher than in 2012, and twice as high as in 2010.

According to the General Statistics Office, an estimated 11,000 cars were imported in October 2015, worth $203 million. Cumulatively, in the first 10 months of the year, the number of imported cars reached 94,610, equivalent to approximately $2.3 billion, representing an 83% increase in quantity and a 100% increase in value compared to the same period in 2014.

Previously, in 2014, imported cars reached 72,000 units, worth $1.57 billion, while in 2013 the number of imported cars was only 34,978 units with a value of $708 million, and in 2012 the number of imported cars was only 27,400 units and $615 million.

Regarding the car import market, China led with 20,004 vehicles in the first 10 months of this year, compared to only 13,805 vehicles for the whole of 2014 and 4,372 vehicles in 2013.

South Korea led Vietnam's car import market in 2013 and 2014 with 15,340 and 16,794 imported vehicles respectively, but by the end of October 2015, the figure had dropped to 18,676 vehicles.

Imported cars have increased sharply in both quantity and value. Source: General Statistics Office.

In addition, Thailand and India are also two major car import markets for Vietnam, with car imports from these two markets increasing sharply over the years. As of the end of October 2015, car imports from Thailand totaled 16,892 vehicles and from India totaled 12,533 vehicles.

Notably, imported cars from China are mainly trucks, while markets like South Korea and Thailand primarily export passenger cars with fewer than nine seats to Vietnam.

According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) sales report for the period ending September 2015, sales of imported vehicles increased by 57% while sales of domestically assembled vehicles increased by 52% compared to the same period last year.

VAMA forecasts that, with an average of 10,000-11,000 vehicles imported each month, the total number of imported vehicles for the whole year of 2015 could reach 115,000-117,000 vehicles, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Recently, changes in tax and fee policies have been analyzed and are expected to have a strong impact on the price of imported cars and the Vietnamese car market.

Specifically, according to the draft "Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Value Added Tax, the Law on Special Consumption Tax and the Law on Tax Administration," for vehicles with engine capacities of 1.0 liter or less, the Ministry of Finance proposes applying a special consumption tax of 40% from July 1, 2016, a reduction of 5 percentage points compared to the current rate. The tax rate will be reduced to 30% and 20% respectively from 2018 and 2019.

Similar reductions also apply to vehicles with engine capacities between 1.0 and 1.5 liters, and between 1.5 and 2.0 liters. By 2019, the special consumption tax rates for these vehicle types will be 25% and 30%, respectively.

According to Mr. Pham Dinh Thi, Director of the Tax Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance, by 2019, the price reductions for the most heavily discounted cars could reach 42% of their current prices… The tax reduction will make it easier for people with average and above-average incomes to access automobiles.

According to VOV