How much more expensive is a tax-free car to Vietnam than to Thailand?

Honda Vietnam has just announced the selling price for a series of cars imported from Thailand. This is a batch of cars exempted from import tax according to the commitment with ASEAN countries, so the selling price will be greatly discounted. Currently, if comparing the selling price of these models in Vietnam with Thailand, it can be seen that the price of cars in Vietnam is narrowing the gap with the selling price in Thailand day by day.

Specifically, according to the price list announced by Honda Vietnam, the small car Honda Jazz with 3 versions V, VX, RS has the selling price of 538, 589 and 619 million VND respectively. In Thailand, this series of models has the selling price of 654,000, 694,000 and 739,000 baht, equivalent to 471, 500 and 532 million VND. It can be seen that the Jazz car line in Thailand is cheaper than in Vietnam from 70 to 90 million VND, depending on the version.

The latest imported Honda models in Vietnam have prices that are only a few tens to over a hundred million VND different from those in Thailand.

The Honda Civic C-class sedan in Vietnam has 3 versions: 1.5G, 1.5L and 1.8E. The retail prices are 826, 898 and 758 million VND respectively. Meanwhile, in Thailand, the Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo model is priced at 1,099,000 baht, equivalent to 792 million VND. The 1.8E version in Thailand is only 869,000 baht, equivalent to 626 million VND. The price for the Honda Civic in Vietnam is 100 to more than 130 million VND more expensive than in Thailand.

The Honda CR-V SUV in Thailand only has a version with a 2.4L engine combined with a single-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The highest price is 1,699,000 baht, equivalent to 1.23 billion VND. The lowest version 2.4E costs 1,399,000 baht, equivalent to 1.007 billion VND. In Vietnam, the Honda CR-V uses a 1.5L turbo engine and is priced from 958 million to 1.068 billion VND. The Honda Accord alone has a price in the two markets of Thailand and Vietnam of nearly 1.2 billion VND.

Although exempted from import tax, currently, when imported into Vietnam, cars imported from ASEAN still have to bear many costs, directly affecting the price of the car such as special consumption tax, value added tax, vehicle inspection costs when returning to Vietnam, etc. According to an expert in the import-export industry, for cars today, to clear customs, all vehicle inspection costs are around 70 million VND. With this price, if divided into a whole batch of cars, the inspection cost affecting the price of the car will not be too expensive, only a few hundred thousand VND.