Vietnam auto sales up 2% to 188,997 units in Jan-Aug

Members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA), not including VinFast and Hyundai, sold 188,997 units in the first eight months of 2024, up 2% year-on-year.

The figure is an improvement after a long slump. After a 33% year-on-year growth in 2022, the automobile market dropped 25% year-on-year to 301,989 units in 2023 and inched down 2% to 134,884 in the first half of 2024. The market made its first recovery with a 1% increase in January-July.

In Jan-Aug of 2024, the auto sales included 139,271 passenger cars, up 2% year-on-year; 48,197 commercial vehicles, up 4%; and 1,529 special-purpose vehicles, up 1%.

The number of completely knocked down (CKD) vehicles sold was 94,141, down 11% year-on-year; and that of completely-built-up (CBU) units was 94,856, a 21% growth.

August sales of 25,196 vehicles, featuring 19,129 passenger cars, 5,901 commercial vehicles, and 166 special-purpose vehicles, was up 12% from August 2023, but down 13% from the previous month. The numbers of CKD and CBU units sold in the month were 12,064 and 13,132, respectively.

Outside VAMA, Hyundai sold 34,389 units in the eight-month period, according to a report by TC Group, manufacturer and official retailer of the South Korean brand’s vehicles in Vietnam. Its August sales figure was 4,679 units, down 12% from one month ago.

As a result, Hyundai was the best-selling brand in Vietnam in the eight months, followed by Toyota (33,516), Ford (24,071), Mitsubishi (22,548), KIA (18,933), Mazda (17,691), and Honda (14,047).

Vietnamese conglomerate Thaco, which manufactures and sells KIA, Mazda, Peugeot and BMW vehicles apart from its own Thaco trucks and buses, recorded total sales of 50,860 units in the period.

Mitsubishi Xforce, a five-seater SUV, topped the August sales chart with 2,504; followed by Ford Ranger, a pickup truck, with 1,274; and Mazda CX-5, a sport utility vehicle (SUV), with 1,070.

Ford Ranger, a pickup truck, topped the January-August sales chart with 10,293 units; followed by Mitsubishi Xpander, a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), with 10,268; Mitsubishi Xforce with 8,142; and Toyota Vios, a sedan, with 6,970.