Hanoi (VNA) –﷽ Vietnam’s automobile sales in February plummeted 50%year-on-year to 11,633 units, the biggest drop in three years.

The sales were even lower than the figure recorded in February 2021 – the time when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out as 13,585 vehicles were sold. The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) announced that itsmembers sold a total of 30,876 units during January – February, plunging 23%from the same time last year. Meanwhile, the two-month sales in 2021 wererecorded at 40,017. Besides VAMA members, the Vietnamese auto market also includes otherautomakers such as Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Subaru,Volkswagen, and Volvo, but they did not disclose their business results. Thanh Cong (TC) Group announced its sales of 2,033 units in February,and 5,602 in the first two months of the year. There were no sales results from VinFast as the Vietnamese automaker hasannounced its sales quarterly from August 2023 as required by the US stockmarket. Based on reports from VAMA and TC Group, 36,478 automobiles were delivered to customers duringJanuary-February, a year-on-year decrease of 26%. Top three best-selling brands in February were Hyundai (2,033 units), Ford (1,664) and KIA(1,386). They were followed by Mazda (1,355), Honda (1,264) and Toyota (1,248). VAMA attributed the slump in the auto sales to the week-long Lunar New Yearholidays. Meanwhile, businesses and experts said that it was also due to economicchallenges and expiration of the 50% registration fee reduction on January 1. They also held that purchasing power could improve but lag behind expectationsin the coming months. From the beginning of March, many brands have offered discounts and run variouspromotional programmes to boost sales. Mercedes-Benz Vietnam has listed prices for its C-Class, E-Class, GLB, GLE andAMG models between nearly 1.39 billion VND (56,355 USD) to 6 billion VND. The new prices are reduced by between 210 million VND and 719 million VND. TC Group and Toyota Vietnam have offered price cuts for the B-SUV HyundaiCreta, Kia Seltos, Vios and Veloz Cross. In the meantime, Honda Vietnam has provided its customers with attractiveoffers, including granting 100% of registration fee and 30 million VND in cash for thosewho buy Honda CR-V G and Honda City L/G. Completely-built-up cars such as Yaris Cross and Xforce also have their pricesadjusted down to lure more customers./.