Vietnam’s car imports shoot up in first half of 2019

Vietnam imported 75,437 completely built (CBU) cars worth a total of US$1.72 billion in the first six months of 2019, up six times in number and five times in value compared with the same period of last year.

Vietnam imported US$1.72 billion worth of completely built cars in the first half of 2019. (Photo: Nha Dau tu)
Vietnam imported US$1.72 billion worth of completely built cars in the first half of 2019. (Photo: Nha Dau tu)

Tax revenues from CBU cars were estimated at US$922 million, up 424.77% year on year, according to data released by the General Department of Customs.

In June, Thailand was Vietnam’s largest car import market, with 7,575 units, followed by Indonesia with 1,468 and China with 653. The country also imported 274 cars from the Republic of Korea and 150 from Japan.

The number of vehicles from these five markets accounted for 96% of Vietnam’s total car imports during the month.

Data showed that Vietnam imported 7,145 cars with nine seats or less in June, accounting for 67.8% of its total automobile imports, with prices of those imported from Thailand and Indonesia at around US$19,200.

June also saw Vietnam purchase US$291 million worth of spare car parts, compared with US$357 million recorded in the previous month.

Vietnamese spare car parts imports mainly came from the Republic of Korea, Japan, Thailand, China, Indonesia and Germany.