Vietnam auto sales down 29% in 9 months, Mitsubishi Xpander best seller

The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA), not including VinFast and Hyundai, sold 209,929 vehicles in January-September this year, down 29% year-on-year.

Mitsubishi Xpander, a crossover multi-purpose vehicle, was the best-selling model in the nine-month period, while Mazda CX-5, a sport utility vehicle (SUV), topped the September sales chart.

The total sales figure included 156,498 passenger cars, down 32% year-on-year; 51,751 commercial vehicles, down 14%; and 1,680 special-purpose vehicles, down 60%.

The number of completely knocked down (CKD) vehicles was 120,869, down 29% year-on-year; and that of completely-built-up (CBU) units was down 30% to 89,060.

September sales of 25,375 vehicles was down 24% year-on-year, but up 13% from August. This comprised 19,665 passenger cars, 5,546 commercial vehicles and 164 special-purpose vehicles. The number of CKD units was 16,592 and that of CBU units was 8,783.

Outside VAMA, Hyundai reported sales of 41,168 units in January-September, according to a report by TC Group, the manufacturer and official retailer of Hyundai vehicles in Vietnam. Its September sales figure was 5,977 units, up 90.1% after a month.

VinFast, the automaker arm of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup, sold 10,027 units globally in the third quarter, totaling 21,342 for the first three quarters.

As a result, Hyundai was the best-selling brand in Vietnam in the first nine months of this year. Other top names were Toyota with 38,490; Ford with 26,484; Mitsubishi with 21,646; Honda with 15,070; and Suzuki with 10,848.

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 67,228 units in the period. This included 23,866 Mazda and 27,877 KIA units, also among the top selling brands in Vietnam.

Mazda CX-5, a sport utility vehicle (SUV), topped the sales chart for models again in September with 2023, after leading the August chart with 1725.

Other popular models in September were Mitsubishi Xpander, a seven-seater multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), with 1,918 units; Hyundai Accent, a five-seater sedan, with 1,711; Toyota Vios, a sedan, with 1,496; and Ford Ranger, a pick-up truck, with 1,347.

For January-September, the best-selling model was Mitsubishi Xpander with 14,187; Hyundai Accent with 11,540; Ford Ranger with 11,235; and Mazda CX-5 with 10,836.