Motorcycle prices go up, registration fees increase: 'A hundred mulberry leaves fall on the silkworm's head'

It is thought that customers are kings when they spend tens of millions of dong to buy a motorbike as a daily means of transportation...

Honda SH, one of the most "overpriced" car models at dealerships

Perhaps, no other motorcycle market has created as many paradoxes as in Vietnam. Customers, who contribute to the revenue and profit of manufacturers and motorcycle dealers and are responsible for paying taxes and fees when consuming products. In the end, they are also the ones who suffer the most from... their own needs.

Surely not only me but many others have been shocked by the way dealers price their vehicles. When a new model of Honda, Yamaha... is launched, of course everyone hopes that the manufacturer will announce the listed price. However, reality shows me that don't rush to dream of owning a vehicle at the price announced by the manufacturer! When going to the distribution store, based on market demand and customer volume, most dealers are the ones that have the ability to control the vehicle price.

Last month, when buying a motorbike for my daughter to use for school, I went around some dealers, both Honda's official Head and private dealers in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City. Talking to the sales staff, I learned that a Honda AirBlade, Honda Lead, Honda Vision, Yamaha Exciter... can have a price difference of 3 - 6 million VND compared to the manufacturer's listed price. Even scooter models like Honda SH, SH Mode, if they are "hot" products, can have their selling price increased by tens of millions of VND. I know it's not strange, but thinking about it, I feel it's unfair. The attractiveness or so-called "hotness" of a product, in fact, depends partly on the needs of consumers. However, the distributors take advantage of this to raise prices, profiting from the distribution of vehicles, with the reason that I think is absurd: "If there is a shortage of vehicles, the selling price will increase!"

I still remember, when the Yamaha NVX model was sold in Vietnam at the end of 2016, on forums and car enthusiast groups, many members complained about the dealers setting the price of the car too high compared to the manufacturer's listed price, causing them to suffer losses. People who want to buy a car always have choices! One is to put down money, agreeing to buy the car at a higher price than the manufacturer's price. Two is to wait or just go around to get prices. But if you wait, you don't know when the car will be at the listed price. And then when you swallow your anger and put down money to buy the car, many people have to pay a larger amount than the value of the car listed on the dealer's product invoice. And so, every time new generations of Honda AirBlade, Honda Lead, Honda Vision, Yamaha Exciter... are launched, the refrain "cars with inflated prices" appears on forums or in the press.

This is not only me but also many other consumers who I think are upset when buying a motorbike. Obviously, the fact that the dealer declares the value of the motorbike on the invoice lower than the actual selling price causes a loss of revenue from the registration fee of each motorbike with an inflated price, and when we accept to buy, it is no different from us compromising. Of course, as consumers, who doesn't want to have measures to limit this situation so that we can buy a motorbike at its true value.

Recently, there is information that the Ministry of Finance has decided to adjust the registration fee for some Honda and Yamaha models. This method can partly limit the loss of registration fee revenue due to dealers raising the selling price of cars. However, no one can answer whether or not it can stop the situation of increasing car prices.

On the distributor side, it only reduces the profit on each vehicle sold to customers, compared to the old calculation method. Because in fact, with the listed price, the dealer system has enjoyed a discount from the manufacturer. As for consumers! The increase in the new registration fee makes them have to spend from 1 to 3 million VND more in registration fees and license plates than before, when buying models such as Honda AirBlade, Honda Vision, Honda SH, Honda SH Mode or Yamaha Janus.

This shows that, in the fight against dealers manipulating motorcycle prices in the Vietnamese market, in the end, consumers are still the ones who suffer the most.

According to TNO