According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA), among 253,957 cars sold in the 11-month period, including up to 172,500 cars were below nine seats, up 24% on-year. 

Up to 253,957 cars were sold in Vietnam in the first 11 months of this year

Domestic automaker Thaco now leads car sales in Vietnam with 88,181 units sold in between January and November this year, up 9% on-year; of which Thaco Kia and Mazda reached 25,970 units and 29,871 units, increasing 30% and 29% respectively. Sales of Thaco trucks were down 24% at 26,432 units.

Toyota Motor Vietnam sold 56,864 units, up 6% on-year. Honda Vietnam overtook Ford to take third spot with 23,994 sales, up 109%. Meanwhile, Ford sold 20,677 units, falling 21%.

Manufacturers such as Lexus, Mercedes-Benz Vietnam, GM Vietnam, Isuzu, VEAM, Vinamotor and SAMCO all lost ground.

Luxury brands Mercedes-Benz Vietnam and Lexus reported sales of 5,504 and 390 vehicles, down 12% and 52%, respectively. This is partially blamed for the increased import of cars from ASEAN countries following zero import tax policy since early this year. Besides, special consumption tax for this kind of car has been also raised between 5-30% compared to 2017.

VinFast, a subsidiary of Vietnam's biggest private firm Vingroup, presented three models and their prices at its maiden show in Hanoi recently with quite competitive prices.

The VAMA reported that roughly 193,688 domestically-assembled cars were sold between January and November with 90% among those being below nine seats.