Car imports from Indonesia drop sharply

The number of imported cars to Vietnam continued to decrease sharply in October, especially cars from Indonesia. Meanwhile, the price of imported cars in 2018 is predicted to be difficult to decrease as much as expected.

The imported car market is experiencing many fluctuations - Photo: Quang Dinh

Many car import businesses are concerned that tightening car imports in 2018 will cause a decrease in imported cars and an increase in car prices, which will not be as expected by consumers who want to buy cheap cars.

According to the General Department of Customs, the number of imported cars in the first 10 months of the year was 77,336 units, down more than 10% compared to the same period last year.

In October alone, the number of imported cars dropped sharply to 5,838 units, while in September it was slightly higher with more than 6,000 units.

Notably, the Indonesian market dropped sharply from nearly 3,000 units in August to 320 units in September and only 261 units in October.

Some car import companies said that there was a time when imported cars from Indonesia surpassed Thailand to become the country exporting the most completely built-up cars to Vietnam. However, the reality shows that the number of imported cars from Indonesia has decreased sharply in recent months.

In the market, some imported car models have had their prices increased. For example, Toyota Vietnam's Fortuner model, imported completely from Indonesia, if customers buy at this time, they will have to pay an additional 40 million VND.

Along with a series of policies on imported cars, imported car prices in 2018 may not decrease as much as consumers expect.

For example, the regulation requires that each imported shipment must have one vehicle tested, including emissions, brake durability, engine...

According to businesses, such testing costs from 40 to 100 million VND/time and requires waiting from 2 weeks to 2 months for results. Previously, when importing, businesses only took 1 sample car for testing. Subsequent shipments of that model did not need to be tested again.

According to the new regulations, each imported shipment, one batch after another, must undergo the same testing. Importing one or three vehicles must undergo testing, which is both costly and time-consuming.

A leader of a German car import business in Ho Chi Minh City said that if the number of imported cars is too large, there will be an overload, there will be a long wait, so the cars cannot be sold immediately, the warehouse cost will be very high. All these costs are included in the cost price, making it difficult for car prices to decrease as expected.

According to an economic expert knowledgeable about the automobile industry, the number of imported cars is decreasing, especially from Indonesia, and the cause is not yet clear.

However, with the actual situation that there are only about 2 months left before import tax from ASEAN is 0% in early 2018, import businesses may "wait" or the State's policies tighten import regulations, making it more difficult for businesses to place orders.

According to tuoitre.vn