Though July is nearly over, ASEAN-imported cars enjoying zero percent tariff are still scarce because of import regulations.
Limited imported cars push up price confounding consumers' expectation of buying cheap automobile.
Merely out-of-date cars and old models are discounted while other models remain relatively high or increase drastically.
For instance, locally assembled Nissan X-Trail and Sunny increased VND 10-23 million ($430 – 989) while price of Nissan Navara fluctuated from VND625 million to VND815 million.
Before, three models of Honda CR-V prices jumped 10 million to VND973 million, VND1.013 billion and VND1.083 billion. However, there has been a scarcity of Honda CR-V and agents announced buyers have to wait until October.
Anyone wishing to have the vehicle soon, they must pay additional amount from VND10 million to VND50 million for common or luxury models.
Whereas, Toyota Fortuner, Hilux and Hiace have new prices in August fluctuating from VND1.026 to VND1.354 billion which disappointed buyers because of higher price.
Despite this, Toyota agent refused to receive deposit for luxury model because of limited supply. Anyone who want to buy white Toyota must pay more VND8 million in all agents in the country.
Apart from that, Toyota Hilux released in 2018 fetches at VND695 - 878 million, an increase of 18-22 million against the old model.
Limited supply can't satisfy the demand; accordingly, experts forecast in 2018, just 200,000 imported cars enter Vietnam.