Vietnam: Automobile Sales Drop 3.3% to 407,000 Units in 2020; Hyundai Dethrones Toyota

Vietnam’s automobile sales in 2020 declined 8.0% compared to the previous year to 297,000 units, based on official data released by VAMA (Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association). Due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection, production and sales activities were temporarily suspended in April 2020, as a result of which consumption declined. For this reason, unit sales fell about 30% in the first half of 2020. Thanks to the early curtailment of the spread of the virus and the support of a robust economy, sales remained at a high level. If the sales results of Hyundai Thanh Cong Vietnam (HTCV), a local subsidiary of Hyundai, and the sales results of VinFast, a local brand which started automobile production in June 2019, both are non-VAMA members, are combined with official sales results released by VAMA, Vietnam’s automobile sales in 2020 increases to 407,000 units, surpassing 400,000 units for the second consecutive year. Looking at the breakdown of the 297,000 units sold in 2020 by VAMA members, imported vehicles (CBUs), which increased sharply in 2019, fell 17.6% to 110,000 units, while locally-assembled vehicles (CKDs) dropped only 1.2% to 187,000 units. One of the reasons for the small reduction in CKD-assembled vehicle sales is that the registration fee for CKD vehicles has been reduced by 50% through Cabinet Order No. 70 (70/2020 / ND-CP) enforced by the government in June 2020. As a result, manufacturers increased local assembly in Vietnam. Looking at monthly domestic production in 2019 and 2020, in December 2020, production reached 29,000 units, the highest ever on a monthly basis.