The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) reported that 31,598 cars were sold in December 2024, a decrease of 29 percent compared with the month before and 18 percent compared with the same period 2023.

The decline in sales was predictable. People rushed to buy cars in September, October and November to enjoy the 50 percent vehicle registration tax cut (the policy was applied only to domestically assembled cars).

However, sales in December were better than last year. The clear impact of the registration tax cut policy was evident in VAMA’s report, which showed that sales of domestically assembled vehicles decreased by 49 percent to 12,862 products as the preferential tax cut no longer existed. 

Meanwhile, the sales of imported complete built units (CBU) fell by only 2 percent compared to the prior month to 18,736 units.

Though December’s sales were below expectations, the total sales for the entire market in 2024 reached 340,142 products, an increase of 12.6 percent over 2023, which highlighted the considerable efforts put forth by VAMA members.

In 2024, Toyota sold over 68,000 products, much higher than the 59,207 sold in 2023. Mitsubishi recorded sales of 41,198 vehicles, achieving strong growth of 33.4 percent compared to 2023. Honda's sales of 28,267 vehicles increased by nearly 19 percent, and Ford reached a record-breaking annual sales of 42,175 vehicles, up 10 percent over 2023, a new sales record for the American automaker.

As for TC Motor, the assembler and distributor of Hyundai cars, which is not a VAMA member, reported a slight decrease in business results of 0.4 percent compared with 2023 to 67,168 products. 

Meanwhile, VinFast, the 100 percent Vietnamese owned automobile manufacturer, ended 2024 with business results better than ever in the national automobile market with 87,000 cars delivered to clients, including 57,000 VF3 and VF5.

Thus, the total estimated capacity of Vietnam's automotive market in 2024 reached 500,000 vehicles, trailing only the record of 509,141 vehicles set in 2022.

Additional positive highlights of Vietnam's auto market in 2024 included a pronounced shift toward electric, eco-friendly vehicles, offering customers more options in the hybrid segment, mostly from Japanese brands like Toyota, Honda, and Suzuki. According to the VAMA report, nearly 10,000 hybrid vehicles were sold.

In the electric vehicle market segment, in addition VinFast, the market witnessed many Chinese brands, such as BYD, GAC Aicon, Wuling and MG..

Experts believe the 2025 market will maintain stable growth.

Ngo Minh