According to the Vietnam Automotive Manufacturers Association (VAMA), new car sales in Vietnam fell by 30% to 30,303 units in December 2022, compared to 43,526 units in the previous year.
The market held up against very strong year-ago data last month as buying activity rebounded following the Covid lockdowns at the start of 2021. The country’s economy grew 8% in 2022, driven by 10% growth in the service sector.
Total vehicle sales in 2022 rose 29% to 358,063 units from 277,203 a year earlier, with light passenger vehicle sales up 40% to 284,317 units, while commercial vehicle sales were only slightly higher at 73,746.
The Truong Hai (Thaco) Group, local assembler and distributor of Kia, Mazda, Peugeot and BMW-Mini and commercial vehicles, reported a 25% increase in group sales to 130,300 units last year. This includes a 33% increase kia Sale to 60,729 units; an increase of 32% Mazda Sales to 36,052 units and a jump of 51% peugeot Sales to 10,175 units during thako Truck sales fell by 8% to 21,107 units.
Toyota reported a 35% increase in sales to 91,115 units in 2022 Mitsubishi engines local deliveries up 46% to 39,861 units, Honda 30,645 units (+41%), ford 28,847 units (+22%) and Suzuki 16,209 units (+18%).
The VAMA data does not include all brands, including Mercedes-Benz and domestic start-up VinFast, which sold an estimated 26,000 vehicles locally last year, compared to 37,723 units in 2021.
