Small Japanese car priced at 400 million: Beating Kia Morning, Hyundai i10

While domestic cars are still competing to reduce prices, a series of cheap small Japanese cars produced in Thailand and Indonesia are about to enter Vietnam, making the car market even more exciting. New imported car models priced around 400 million VND are aiming to compete directly with the two rivals Kia Morning and Hyundai i10 in Vietnam.

Small Japanese cars cost around 350-400 million VND

The Vietnamese automobile market has been "feverish" in recent days with the news that a series of cheap small car models from the ASEAN market will arrive in Vietnam at the end of 2017. At the Vietnam Motor Show 2017 (VMS 2017), a number of Japanese A-class small car models produced in Thailand and Indonesia were officially revealed, making many people excited.

It is Toyota's small car Wigo with a soft price, completely new design, appearing for the first time in Vietnam.

Toyota Wigo, also known as Toyota Agya, is a small urban car produced in Indonesia. First launched in 2012, this car is aimed at young customers.

Toyota Wigo first appeared in Vietnam.

After a market survey at VMS 2017, Toyota plans to officially sell this model in Vietnam from 2018. However, the price of Toyota Wigo in the Vietnamese market has not been announced. In Indonesia, the price ranges from 131.5-152 million Rupiah, equivalent to 224-259 million VND. If the difference between taxes between Vietnam and Indonesia is about 100 million VND, this model will be officially sold at a price of about 350-400 million VND.

When sold in Vietnam, Toyota Wigo will compete with other cars in the same segment A such as Hyundai Grand i10 or Kia Morning. Toyota Wigo's rival is Hyundai Grand i10 2017 launched last July with a price from 340 million VND, while Kia Morning has a price from 315 million VND.

Meanwhile, Suzuki is also looking to jump into the low-cost mini car segment in Vietnam by introducing the small car Celerio at VMS 2017.

This is a 5-door hatchback, first introduced in February 2014. Suzuki Celerio is manufactured by Maruti Suzuki in India and Suzuki Motor Thailand. It is not clear whether this model about to be launched in Vietnam is imported from India or Thailand.

Suzuki Celerio will be a formidable competitor of Hyundai Grand i10, Kia Morning and Toyota Wigo.

The selling price of Suzuki Celerio in Vietnam has not been disclosed. However, experts say that this will be one of the cheapest models, because in India, the selling price of Suzuki Celerio is only from 6,250 USD (equivalent to 143 million VND), while in Thailand it is 10,940 USD (equivalent to 251 million VND). When coming to Vietnam, Suzuki Celerio will have a higher selling price of about 150 million VND and will be in the price range of around 400 million VND.

Suzuki Celerio is expected to be launched to Vietnamese consumers in 2018. Although it has to compete with rivals such as Hyundai Grand i10, Kia Morning or Toyota Wigo, Suzuki Vietnam said it expects Celerio to "revitalize" the small car segment in the near future.

In the Vietnamese market, the A-class small car segment is a fierce competition between two brands from Korea, Kia Morning and Hyundai Grand i10. Recently, when Hyundai Thanh Cong launched the new generation Grand i10 model, THACO immediately reduced the price for all versions of KIA Morning.

Cheap small cars are the trend?

It can be seen that small, cheap cars will be the trend in the near future, because this is the choice of many car buyers today. This car line is compact, easy to move in narrow streets, suitable for the traffic situation in Vietnam. Moreover, this car model has low operating and usage costs. In addition, they are constantly innovated by businesses with fashionable designs and especially low prices.

In addition to customers buying cars for personal use, many people also choose small cars for business purposes such as running Grab or Uber services. Because small cars are cheap, they can quickly recover their capital, taking only 1-2 years.

The A-class small car segment is experiencing fierce competition between two brands from Korea.

Currently, small cars are receiving many preferential tax policies. From January 1, 2017, import tax in the ASEAN region decreased from 40% to 30%, causing the price of small cars to decrease in reality by 5-7%. From 2018, this tax rate will be reduced to 0%, at which time, the price of small cars will certainly decrease further.

Southeast Asia and India have become two major centers for the production of small, low-cost cars. A series of small, low-cost Japanese cars produced in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and India have been launched recently, with great purchasing power.

In particular, many Japanese car models manufactured in India are very popular in Vietnam. According to car import companies, Indian cars have prices, designs, features... that are very suitable for the general criteria of Vietnamese people. According to the General Department of Customs, in January 2017, Vietnam imported more than 7,000 cars of all kinds. Of these, 1,000 cars were imported from India, with an average price of only about 84-85 million VND/car (excluding tax).

In 2016, the number of Indian cars imported to Vietnam was about 20,000, with an average import price of 5,300 USD/car (equivalent to more than 100 million VND).

Realizing the advantages and potential of the low-cost small car line, Hyundai Thanh Cong recently decided to assemble the Hyundai i10 model in Vietnam instead of importing it from India. This model is expected to be launched in July with both sedan and hatchback versions.

It was thought that Hyundai i10 would only have to "compete" with Kia Morning. But now, the appearance of Toyota Wigo and Suzuki Celerio at VMS 2017 promises a dramatic race in the A-class car segment, where Hyundai Grand i10 and Kia Morning have dominated for many years.

According to VNN