Luxury cars flooded into Vietnam in June to avoid high taxes.

In June alone, the number of completely assembled cars imported into Vietnam decreased by nearly 30%, but the import value still increased, indicating that dealers were rushing to import luxury cars before the tax increase on July 1st.

The General Department of Customs has just released import figures for the first six months of the year. According to the data, cumulatively for the first six months, the number of imported complete vehicles decreased by more than 9% to 49,890 units. Similarly, the import value also decreased by 19.3% to over $1.2 billion.

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However, the import situation in June showed unusual fluctuations. Specifically, the total number of cars imported into Vietnam was 8,663 units - a decrease of more than 4,000 units, or nearly 30%, compared to the previous month. Yet, the import value of these cars increased by nearly 5% to almost $248 million. Thus, despite importing fewer cars in June, businesses tended to import luxury cars to avoid high taxes.

According to regulations, from July 1st, the special consumption tax on expensive cars with engine capacities of 2.5 liters or more will increase sharply, with higher taxes on larger engine capacities. For cars with engines over 6 liters, the special consumption tax will even increase by 60-150%.

June also saw a massive influx of complete vehicles from Thailand into Vietnam. Specifically, while 1,737 vehicles arrived from South Korea and 1,152 from China, 2,579 vehicles came from Thailand. Thailand has also been the largest exporter of complete vehicles to Vietnam since the beginning of the year, with 15,117 vehicles, generating $276.5 million in revenue.

Ore and some other minerals were the items with the biggest surge in imports in June - up nearly 91% compared to May, while petroleum products decreased in both volume and value.

According to VNE