During the week of August 24-30 alone, Vietnam imported around 3,089 cars valued at USD59.27 million. Of the figure, cars from Thailand and Indonesia dominated. 

Vietnam imported 11,150 cars in August, representing a record-high figure so far this year

Cars below nine seats accounted for 2,129 units, making up 69% of the country’s total imported cars in the week. Different truck models were second at 900 units. Meanwhile, during the week, only 31 vehicles of more than nine seats were imported into Vietnam.

Although more cars from ASEAN countries have been imported into Vietnam after the import tax for cars imported from ASEAN was slashed to 0% from January 1, 2018, cars which have been used for 1-2 years have still sold well.

Unlike luxury cars which have been used for many years, prices of second hand cars have fallen from between VND50 million (USD2,272) and VND100 million (USD4,545) and are popular with middle-income buyers.

According to Kenichi Horinouchi, director of Mitsubishi Motors Vietnam, the Vietnamese automobile market has seen an impressive growth which is expected to outperform Malaysia and Singapore in the coming time, to rank the fourth position in Southeast Asia in terms of car sales just behind Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Experts said that the car sales growth in Vietnam is attributed to the country's economic growth. After some years of slower economic growth, the Vietnamese economy is looking stronger again, and Vietnam’s income per capita is reaching a stage where increasing car ownership is to be expected.