Why sedans for the rich are losing their position in Vietnam

Many people interested in luxury cars were surprised to find that the Lexus IS sedan is no longer listed on the official Lexus Vietnam website. Information from dealerships indicates that the Japanese luxury car manufacturer has ceased distributing this model.

In fact, D-segment sedans priced at 1 billion VND or more are gradually being neglected. This is reflected in the sales figures for the D-segment sedan market in the first half of 2024. According to the sales report of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), a total of 1,077 D-segment sedans were sold in the first six months of 2024, a decrease of 56.9% compared to the first half of 2023 and a decrease of 71.9% compared to the reporting period of 2022.

Sales of sedans priced over 1 billion VND are declining in Vietnam.

According to collected data, there was a sharp decline in sales for most models, except for the Honda Accord. Toyota Camry continued to lead with 660 vehicles delivered to customers, a 52.6% decrease compared to the 1,394 vehicles sold in the first six months of 2023. Despite selling less than 700 units in the first six months, the Camry still held a 61.3% market share in its segment.

Notably, during their peak popularity (2015-2016), sales of large sedan models reached thousands of units, but now they only reach a few hundred, consistently ranking among the slowest-selling cars on the market.

The trend of buying SUVs has also affected the small sedan segment. According to statistics, Vietnamese people bought 16,176 sedans in the first six months of 2024, a decrease of nearly 30% compared to the same period last year. Except for the Hyundai Accent and Toyota Vios, which were popular with this customer group (4,988 and 4,215 units respectively), the number of other models decreased.

Besides experiencing a difficult economic period and having limited customer budgets, current consumer preferences are shifting towards SUV, CUV, and MPV models with robust and practical designs. This has led to a shrinking sales volume in the D-segment sedan market in particular, and low-riding vehicles in general. This scenario is predicted to likely continue for the remainder of the year.

Typically, the best-selling model in the first half of 2024 in the Vietnamese market was the Mitsubishi Xpander with 7,773 units sold. This model has an affordable list price, starting from only 560 million VND, suitable for city driving and carrying multiple passengers.

Meanwhile, in the price range of over 1 billion VND, consumers are increasingly opting for the Ford Everest SUV, with sales reaching 4,442 units, ranking 5th on the list of best-selling cars in the first half of 2024.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/ly-do-xe-sedan-cho-nguoi-giau-dang-danh-mat-vi-the-o-viet-nam-333624.html