Purchasing power recovers, car prices at the end of the year have mixed developments

The Vietnamese auto market at the end of the year has been mixed, with most car companies racing to reduce prices and stimulate demand, while some individuals are using the excuse of shortages to push up prices in the form of "selling beer with peanuts".

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As 2023 gradually passes, the car market in Vietnam has a colorful color scheme when witnessing the continuous appearance of new car models along with unpredictable fluctuations.

As the year comes to an end, the shopping season becomes more exciting as companies continuously launch promotional programs to stimulate demand, helping to restore purchasing power somewhat. However, this is accompanied by the recurrence of the "beer and peanuts" shopping situation in some new car models.

Cars with deep discounts in all segments

According to records, from the second half of October until now, most car models from small-sized popular segments to luxury cars are receiving attractive discount incentives.

In the B-class sedan group, the Nissan Almera is typically offered tens of millions of dong in incentives at dealerships. Currently, this model is supported by the company with 100% of the registration fee, equivalent to 65-71 million dong, bringing the car price down to a minimum of 474 million dong. KIA Soluto receives 50% support for the registration fee, equivalent to 19.3 - 29 million dong; Hyundai Accent is offered up to 26 million dong in incentives...

The once-popular Toyota Vios sedan is also being discounted 50% of the registration fee, equivalent to 24-30 million VND, along with a car loan support package with an interest rate of 0% per year for 6 months. For urban high-chassis vehicles, this is also a segment that is often deeply discounted due to its high competitiveness with dozens of models.

According to records from the beginning of November, Subaru continues to deeply discount the Forester model by up to 280 million VND for the 2.0iL Eyesight version, reducing the car price from 1.099 billion VND to 819 million VND; the 2.0iS EyeSight version is reduced from 1.288 billion VND to 1.08 billion VND; 2.0-L from 969 million VND to 769 million VND. Hyundai with the 7-seat MPV Hyundai Stargazer is being sold by dealers with a discount of up to 120 million VND in cash, reducing the car price to only 455 million VND, the lowest in the segment. Some other car models such as Honda BR-V, Mitusubishi Xpander, Toyota Yaris Cross are being reduced from 35-90 million VND...

Not only popular car models but also luxury and imported car models are not out of the price reduction race. German car company Volkswagen continues to reduce the price of its car models by up to 500 million VND this month. Specifically, the dark blue Touareg model is reduced by 12% from 2.999-3.499 billion VND to the lowest of 2.59 billion VND, Teramont is reduced from 2.499 billion VND to 2.099 billion VND, Tiguan from 1.99 billion VND to 1.75 billion VND. Jeep with the Wrangler SUV model is reduced from 188-245 million VND, Gladiator pickup truck is reduced from 212-254 million VND...

In the electric vehicle group, to show gratitude to teachers on the occasion of November 20, from now until the end of the year, VinFast will reduce car prices by 3%, motorbike prices by 25%, and free battery rental for 1 year. For those who need to borrow money from the bank to buy a car, the program also applies a loan of up to 80% of the car's value (term of 6 years) through BIDV bank. Mercedes-Benz also offers a wall charger installation package for EQB, EQE and EQS SUV electric vehicles, worth nearly 70 million VND...

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New car sells "beer with peanuts" again

In the context of the general market competing to reduce prices, some newly launched car models have gone against the trend when dealers use the reason of shortage of goods to increase prices and sell in a "beer with peanuts" style, forcing customers to pay more money or buy additional accessories to receive the car early.

Specifically, the new generation Toyota Innova Cross was just launched in mid-October 2023, just a few days later, some Toyota dealers launched a trick to sell this car model in the style of "beer with peanuts". Accordingly, customers who order Innova Cross are "suggested" by sales staff of dealers to buy additional accessory packages worth about 30-50 million VND to receive the car early. Otherwise, they have to wait 1-2 months to get the car, because Toyota Innova Cross is a completely imported car from Indonesia.

Similar to Toyota Innova Cross, the new generation of Honda CR-V recently launched by Honda Vietnam has also been proposed by some Honda car dealers in Hanoi to buy a "peanut package" worth about 40-50 million VND for the CR-V e:HEV RS version imported from Thailand.

“This model is sold out as soon as it arrives, there are no cars left to display. If you are interested, you will receive the car soon, otherwise you will have to wait a few more months for the goods to arrive,” said Mr. N., a salesman at a Hanoi dealership.

In fact, the situation of "selling beer with peanuts" with this car model is actually not new. Previously, in May 2022, some Honda dealers also "suggested" customers to buy an accessory package worth 40 million VND and received many mixed opinions.

In fact, the newly launched CR-V is considered to have a higher selling price than its competitors in the same segment such as Mazda CX-5 (VND 749-999 million), Hyundai Tucson (VND 769-899 million), Kia Sportage (VND 859-1,029 million)...

In addition, some other unique car models are also having their prices adjusted to increase during this time. Since the beginning of October, Toyota Vietnam has also announced a price increase of 96 million VND for the Land Cruiser LC300 model, bringing the suggested price to 4.196 billion VND. For Peugeot, Thaco has also adjusted the selling price with an increase of 20-40 million VND for the 2008, 3008, 5008 and Traveller models, Premium 7-seat version, respectively.

Currently, the Vietnamese automobile market is in the last sales quarter of 2023, so purchasing power is expected to improve somewhat. In addition, selling prices and incentive programs for many car models will change somewhat.

Some experts in the auto industry say that the difficulties of the car market in general are still there, but now is the time for manufacturers and companies to start making profits after many months of "sluggish" business. Shopping demand is gradually warming up, proportional to the recovery of the economy.

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