Vehicle sales in Vietnam drop 30% in first 4 months, VinFast EV best seller

Sales by members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA), which does not include VinFast and Hyundai, plunged 30% year-on-year to 92,801 in the first four months of 2023.

They included 68,460 passenger cars, down 35% year-on-year; 23,411 commercial vehicles, down 9%; and 930 special-purpose vehicles, down 58%.

The number of completely knocked down (CKD) vehicles hit 50,017, down 39% year-on-year; and that of completely-built-up (CBU) units fell 16% to 42,784.

In April, VAMA’s vehicle sales plummeted 46% year-on-year to 20,667. They included 14,719 passenger cars, 5,818 commercial vehicles, and 130 special-purpose vehicles.

Regarding non-VAMA members, VinFast delivered 3,798 electric vehicles (EVs) to customers in April, featuring 2,332 VF e34; 1,232 VF 8; 198 VF 9 models; and 36 newly-introduced VF 5 Plus. The figure did not include 1,879 VF 8 exported to the North American market in April.

The Vietnamese EV start-up delivered 5,487 units to the Vietnamese market in the first four months, including 3,105 VF e34, 2,097 VF 8, 249 VF 9, and 36 VF 5 Plus.

Hyundai reported sales of 19,328 units in January-April, down 24.6% year-on-year, including 4,592 in April, according to a report by TC Group, the manufacturer and official retailer of Hyundai vehicles in Vietnam.

As a result, Hyundai was the best-selling brand in the four-month period in Vietnam. Other top names were Toyota with 17,813; Ford with 11,966; KIA with 11,256; Mazda with 9,028; Mitsubishi with 8,780; and Honda with 6,312.

Vietnamese conglomerate Thaco, known for manufacturing and selling vehicles like KIA, Mazda, Peugeot, BMW, and its own Thaco trucks and buses, recorded total sales of 27,427 in the period.

Regarding models, VinFast VF e34, an electric crossover vehicle, climbed to the top spot with 2,332 units sold in April, amid the launch of taxi service GSM (Green-Smart-Mobility) JSC. Both VinFast and GSM are subsidiaries of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup. VinFast VF 8 featured in the fourth place with the sale of 1,232 units.

Other best-selling models in April were Ford Ranger with 1,427 units; Toyota Corolla Cross with 1,310; Honda City with 1,137; Mitsubishi Xpander with 1,084; and Hyundai Accent with 1,050.