The market is booming at the beginning of the year, which car model is on the throne?

Which car models are making waves in the market when car sales in January unexpectedly increased sharply, reaching 11,066 cars?

The reduction in registration fees in Ho Chi Minh City and the high demand for cars before Tet have made the Vietnamese car market have just had an impressive start to the year with a growth of 23% compared to the same period last year, in which the passenger car segment increased the most with 30%.

Although the total market sales increased sharply, not all car models and brands were in high demand.

According to the report of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), only 9 joint ventures have seen sales growth compared to the same period last year, of which 3 Japanese car brands, Honda, Mazda, and Mitsubishi, achieved the most impressive figures with an increase of 2-3 times compared to before. On the contrary, joint ventures such as VMC, Suzuki, and GM continued to decline.

Honda City, the car model that surprised in January when it surpassed Toyota Vios to take the number 1 position in the small sedan segment.

In fact, the growth of car companies is thanks to the unexpected high sales of some models in different segments.

In the small car segment, besides the number 1 best-selling car model, Kia Picanto with 361 cars, the January market witnessed the rise of a new name, Mitsubishi Mirage. Although it only achieved sales of 78 cars, this model is an important factor helping the Japanese car brand achieve a growth rate of up to 300% compared to last year.

If the small car segment has not yet had a sudden change, the playing field of small sedans and hatchbacks has witnessed an overthrow when the model that has held the throne for many years, Toyota Vios, has been surpassed by its direct competitor, Honda City.

With sales of 415 vehicles, Honda City officially took the number 1 position in the small sedan segment and contributed to Honda's growth of more than 300%.

In the mid-range sedan segment, although Kia K3 continues to sell well with 267 cars, its competitor Toyota Altis is still number 1 with 457 cars.

In the 5-seat SUV segment, the battle between two Japanese models, Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5, is still more or less in favor of the first-come, Honda CR-V with 356 cars.

In the 7-seat SUV and MPV segments, the market still belongs almost entirely to the two Toyota representatives, Innova and Fortuner, although some other competitors such as Ford Everest or Mitsubishi Pajero Sport have significantly increased sales.

The pickup truck market is a battle with many models participating, but the advantage belongs to two lines of vehicles, Ford Ranger (with 272 vehicles) and Toyota Hilux (with 213 vehicles). Other competitors such as Mitsubishi Triton or Chevrolet Colorado are still quite weak with sales of less than 100 vehicles.

In the luxury car segment, the only luxury car brand under VAMA, Mercedes-Benz, had an impressive increase of 54% with sales of 205 cars thanks to the popularity of the E-Class model.

Although the market growth in January was quite impressive, VAMA still maintains its forecast made at the end of last year that sales for the whole year of 2014 are expected to increase by 9% to 120,000 units, and experts also predict that after the hot January, the market in February and March will decline due to the psychology of limiting car purchases at the beginning of the year.

(According to VTC News)