Importers propose halving car registration fees

VIVA made the proposal in the context of a sharp drop in sales and gloomy market forecasts.

According to the association, car importers are struggling to cope with high inventories due to the sudden decrease in demand.

In the first month of this year, the number of cars imported to Vietnam tripled over the same period last year to more than 12,800 vehicles. In the last three months of last year, the number of imported cars also tripled.

Earlier, the Prime Minister ordered the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to consider lowering registration fees for domestically assembled cars.

The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) said tightening credit and rising interest rates have diminished market liquidity, and automobile companies are struggling to cope with high inventories.

According to VAMA, its members reported a decline in sales four months in a row starting last October. Only 17,314 vehicles were sold in January, down 51% from December.

During the Covid pandemic, Vietnam halved registration fees on domestically assembled vehicles, not on imported ones, twice, first in mid-2020 and then again in late-2021. Each reduction period lasted six months.

In the first half of 2020, over 102,900 domestically assembled vehicles were registered. The figure then doubled in the second half of the year.