VietNamNet Bridge – Luxury car brand owners have been trying to expand their distribution networks in Vietnam, which means that they believe in the prosperity of the market in 2013. Meanwhile, domestic manufacturers believe that “after the rain in 2012 comes, the fine weather in 2013”.

The car sales in 2008-2012 and the estimates in 2013

A news showroom of Audi’s products has been inaugurated on Pham Hung road which is near My Dinh, An Khanh, The Manor and Keangnam, the high grade residential quarters in Hanoi.

The business premises on the advantageous position would provide the outstanding opportunities to advertise Audi’s products. With the total investment capital of two million dollars, the new showroom of Audi is capable to display 12 car models at the same times. There are also seven specific car repair areas to satisfy the increasingly high demand.

The representative of Audi said the percentage of Vietnamese possessing cars remains modest, which means great opportunities have been left for car manufacturers to exploit. Meanwhile, car manufacturers and distributors all believe the market would prosper this year, after the government agrees to loosen tax policies on cars. In January 2013 alone, 60 cars with Audi brands were sold.

The representative has revealed that Audi plans to open the first showroom in the central region, possibly in Da Nang City, and one more showroom in HCM City. The Vietnamese partners of the brand now consider the plan to set up a bonded warehouse in Vietnam in order to bring more Audi’s products into Vietnam and nearby markets.

Mercedes Benz seems to have bigger advantages than the fellow-countryman from the Germany when expanding the Vietnamese market, because the car manufacturer has been here in Vietnam for 17 years already.

Though 2012 was a difficult year for all automobile manufacturers, Mercedes Benz Vietnam still sold 2,000 cars, raising the total number of Mercedes car owners in Vietnam to 30,000.

Not only targeting rich businessmen, many of the 22 models Mercedes Benz has brought to Vietnam target young successful clients as well, according to Dau tu.

Having 12 sales agents nationwide, Mercedes Benz still plans to expand its distribution network in 2013. Michael Behrens, General Director of Mercedes Benz Vietnam said as the manufacturer can see the signs of the market recovering, Mercedes now gears up in production to satisfy the demand of the clients.
Tran Ba Duong, President and General Director of Truong Hai Auto, a 100 percent Vietnamese company, has also confirmed the satisfactory car sales recently.

The same thing has been reported by Hyundai Thanh Cong which delivered 1,400 cars to customers in January 2013, a considerable rise if compared with the sales in December 2012.

Yoshihisa Maruta, General Director of Toyota Vietnam said on Dau tu that he hopes the car sales would be 10 percent higher in 2013.

Prior to that, Gaurav Gupta, Managing Director of General Motors Vietnam, predicted that the car market would see the 5-10 percent growth rate in 2013.

Meanwhile, Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam has quoted Laurent Charpentier, Chair of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) as saying that the market would grow slightly by 8 percent in 2013 with 100,000 cars to be sold.

He can see the great potentials in the Vietnamese market, where the actual demand for cars is very high if compared with other regional markets. When the people’s living standards get improved, this would lead to the higher car demand.

If so, the car sales would be a little higher than 2012, when 92,584 cars were sold. Meanwhile, the highest sales occurred in 2009 with 119,460 cars sold.

Compiled by Thu Uyen