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Vietnam’s automobiles import saw sharp decline in January
Cam Anh 10:47, 2018/02/01
Estimated volume of imported cars in the first month of 2018 reduced by 14 times compared to the last month of 2017.
Import of completely built-up cars in January 2018 stands merely at 1,000 in quality and US$94 million in value, according to the (GSO) General Statistics Office's preliminary report.
The figure were envisioned as a drop from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the abyss compared to the previous month.
Illustrative photo.
Illustrative photo.
The GSO’s report also shows that the volume of imported cars in December 2017 reached 14,000 units while turnover value hit US$360 million.
The total import value of completely built-up cars in January decreased by 86.2% in volume and 38% in value against the same month last year.
This unplanned drop came mainly from the impacts of the newly issued Decree 116, which includes two “bottle-necks” for car exporters to Vietnam.
Firstly, the requirements for paperwork in car importing are even more stringent than the earlier Circular 20 of the Ministry of Trade (MoT). The toughest part is that auto importers must obtain a Vehicle Type Approval (VTA) certification issued by authorities in the exporting country.  
Secondly, the provision of random inspection for each type of vehicle in an imported lot poses challenges also.  
Immediately after the issuance of the decree, numerous businesses reflects their challenges in meeting the procedure requirements. Meanwhile, regulations on inspection of imported cars will cause businesses a long pending duration (about 2 months) and the cost raised also.
Therefore, some businesses have ceased import orders by the end of 2017.
The import volume in the first 15 days of January was merely 60 units valued at over US$5.6 million. In particular, the number of passenger cars with less than 10 seats is only six with value of US$282,708, stated in General Department of Customs’ statistics.
MoT has issued Circular 03 to guide on the Decree 166, nonetheless, the auto importers don’t satisfy. They can meet the procedures, though it takes 4-5 months for new cars to be imported to Vietnam. At the same time, regulations on random inspection would also kick the price of imported cars to be higher.
Hence, imported car to Vietnam in the first half of 2018 is forecasted to see downward trend despite the rising consumer demand.
 
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