Vietnam is ASEAN’s 5th largest car market in H1

Vietnam sold 137,327 cars in the first half of the year and was the fifth largest market in ASEAN, according to the ASEAN Automotive Federation (AAF).

In total, 1,637,226 new vehicles were sold across seven ASEAN markets in the period, sales data from the association shows.

Indonesia ranks first. 505,985 units were sold in the archipelago between January and June 2023, putting Indonesia ahead of Thailand and Malaysia, which saw 406,131 units and 366,037 units sold respectively.

The Philippines ranked fourth with 220,415 units, followed by Vietnam (137,327 units) and Singapore (17,951 units). The smallest market is Myanmar, with 1,380 units.

Despite Indonesia having the highest demand for new vehicles, in terms of production output, Thailand is still leading the region, according to AAF’s data. 921,512 units of new vehicles were produced in the kingdom in H1/2023, compared to 696,845 units produced in Indonesia in the same period.

Malaysia is placed third in the region in terms of production volume with 362,535 units, followed by Vietnam (79,271 units), the Philippines (56,973 units), and Myanmar (229 units).

Car consumption in Vietnam fell by 32% in H1

According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufactures’ Association (VAMA), which does not include VinFast and Hyundai, total market sales by the end of June 2023 of VAMA's members were 32% year-on-year, with passenger cars down 37% to 100,277 units, commercial vehicles falling 11% to 35,851 units, and specialized vehicles down 65% to 1,199 units.

In terms of assembly, domestically produced car sales declined 37% year-on-year to 77,584 units at the end of June 2023, while imports fell 25% compared to the same period last year to 59,743 units.

VAMA's car sales fell 5% year-on-year to 23,800 in June. The figure was 15% higher than the prior month. There were 17,334 passenger vehicles, 6,344 commercial vehicles, and 122 special-purpose vehicles among them.

VinFast, which is not a member of VAMA, delivered 3,155 electric vehicles in June, including 609 VF 5 Plus, 1,007 VF e34, 1,184 VF 8, and 355 VF 9. VinFast sold 11,638 units in the first six months of this year.

According to a study by TC Group, the producer and authorized reseller of Hyundai automobiles in Vietnam, Hyundai, which does not belong to VAMA, reported sales of 28,011 units in January-June, an increase of 62% compared to the same period last year.

As a result, Hyundai had the most sales in Vietnam during H1/2023. Toyota, with 26,637; Ford, with 17,423; KIA, with 14,089; Mazda, with 12,847; and Honda, with 9,488 were the other top manufacturers.