Many cars in Vietnam now have prices equal to those in Thailand.

Continuous discount programs since the beginning of the year have helped Vietnamese consumers have the opportunity to buy cars at prices comparable to those in other countries in the region.

In general, car prices in Vietnam are still high compared to other countries in the ASEAN region. However, a series of recent discount and promotion programs have brought the prices of some car models down to the same level, or even lower than in Thailand.

The most active in the car price reduction campaign since the beginning of the year is Thaco, with two brands Kia and Mazda. Deep and continuous discounts are what this company does, with the desire to dominate the market. Therefore, the popular crossover model Mazda CX-5 has hit one low after another in price.

Currently, the selling price of the Mazda CX-5 is from 799 million VND (about 35,156 USD) for the 2.0 2WD version, but at the dealer, the actual selling price of this car model is only about 790 million VND (34,000 USD). Meanwhile, in Thailand, the same Mazda CX-5 version costs about 36,000 USD. The difference of about 2,000 USD is rare in the price correlation between cars in Vietnam and Thailand in recent years. Currently, the price of the new generation CX-5 in Indonesia and Malaysia is about 40,000 USD and 32,000 USD respectively, however, this version is not sold in Vietnam.

Mazda CX-5 price compared to other countries in the region.

Another crossover model that caused a fever in early September, the Honda CR-V, also had a better price than the version currently sold in Thailand and Indonesia. The shocking price of the CR-V 2.0 in early September was around 730-750 million VND (32,000-33,000 USD), equivalent to the new generation CR-V model currently sold in Indonesia and Malaysia. The Honda CR-V 2.4 AT has a listed price of 988 million VND (43,000 USD), not including the dealer discount to around 780 million VND (34,000 USD), much cheaper than the CR-V 2.4 version in Thailand at 45,000 USD. However, the model currently sold in Thailand is the new version, 7 seats.

In addition to the two lower-priced models mentioned above, many other car models in Vietnam are currently not much different in price compared to other ASEAN countries. Toyota Vios is currently applying a discount of about 70 million VND at dealers, the 1.5G version costs about 552 million VND (24,000 USD), in Thailand the price is about 22,000 USD, while in Indonesia it is more than 23,000 USD.

Toyota Vios price in Vietnam is not much different from other countries.

Mazda3 sedan in Vietnam is currently priced at 650 million (28,000 USD) for the 1.5 version and 760 million (33,000 USD) for the 2.0 version. Meanwhile, in Thailand, the price ranges from 25,000 USD to 29,000 USD for the Mazda3 2.0 version.

In fact, many ASEAN countries are among the top countries with the most expensive cars in the world. Vietnam ranks behind Singapore in terms of car prices, while ranking above Thailand and Indonesia.

One of the reasons why car prices in Vietnam are higher than in other countries in the region is because the localization rate is not high. Toyota Vietnam is the most localized car manufacturer, but only reaches about 37%, while the import tax on components is currently applied at 15 to 18%. Compared to Thailand, Vietnam's supporting industry is still far behind, so importing components is inevitable for assembly units.

Meanwhile, imported cars from ASEAN are also currently subject to a 30% import tax, making a fully imported car more expensive than in Indonesia or Thailand, not to mention other business costs of the enterprise.

ASEAN import tax of 0% makes car prices expected to decrease from 2018.

In 2018, import tax on cars from ASEAN countries will be 0%, so many people hope that car prices will decrease significantly, equivalent to other countries in the region. For domestically assembled cars, the import tax within ASEAN to 0% will create great pressure on competition, so the Ministry of Finance has recently proposed 2 options to reduce import tax on auto parts in the 5 years 2018-2022.

With new tax developments in 2018, the hope of car prices being on par with those in the region is a possibility for those who want to own a car in Vietnam.

According to zing