Preliminary statistics from the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance showed that Vietnam imported 25,295 completely built-up vehicles in September, worth USD 566.77 million.
Compared with August, import volumes rose 30.8 per cent, or 5,949 vehicles, while the total value also increased.
Most imported cars came from three markets: Indonesia, China and Thailand. Indonesia topped the list with 10,254 vehicles, up 20.5 per cent from the previous month. China ranked second with 6,757 units, up 48.1 per cent, followed by Thailand with 6,528 units, up 50.8 per cent.
Combined imports from the three markets reached 23,539 vehicles, up 35.3 per cent month on month and accounting for 93 per cent of Vietnam's total completely built-up vehicle imports.
Cars with up to nine seats imported from Indonesia are mainly mass-market models in the B and C segments (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
Passenger cars account for nearly three-quarters of imports
Vehicles with nine seats or fewer continued to make up the largest share of imports. In September, 18,707 such vehicles, worth USD 328.55 million, were cleared through customs, accounting for 74 per cent of total completely built-up vehicle imports. The volume was up 24 per cent, or 3,626 units, from August.
Indonesia remained Vietnam's largest supplier of passenger cars, with 10,242 units, up 20.5 per cent month on month. Thailand followed with 5,625 units, up 45.7 per cent, and China with 1,857 units, up 21.5 per cent.
Combined imports from the three markets totalled 17,724 vehicles, up 27.6 per cent from the previous month and accounting for 95 per cent of all imported vehicles with nine seats or fewer.
Vietnam imported just 15 vehicles with more than nine seats in September, including 11 from Japan and four from China.
Imports of transport vehicles reached 3,732 units, worth USD 108.37 million, up 37.9 per cent in volume and 22.8 per cent in value from August. China was the largest supplier, with 2,104 units, up 31.6 per cent, followed by Thailand with 895 units, up 92.1 per cent.
The category of other vehicles recorded the sharpest increase during the month. Vietnamese businesses imported 2,841 units, with a declared value of USD 128.44 million, representing increases of 83.6 per cent in volume and 74.4 per cent in value from August.
Chinese-made vehicles dominated this category, accounting for 2,792 units, up 95 per cent and representing 98 per cent of total imports in the segment.
Lang Son was the main customs clearance location for these vehicles, handling 1,984 units, up 77 per cent from the previous month and accounting for 70 per cent of total imports in the category.
Imported cars (Photo: Thanh Nguyen).
Car and component imports exceed USD 10 billion
In the first nine months of the year, Vietnam imported 193,220 completely built-up vehicles, up 24.7 per cent year on year. Their total value reached USD 4.46 billion, an increase of 30.7 per cent.
Imports included 134,504 vehicles with nine seats or fewer, up 14.9 per cent, and 34,645 transport vehicles, up 73.3 per cent from the same period last year.
Imports of automotive components and spare parts also increased sharply. The Customs Department reported that Vietnamese businesses imported USD 630 million worth of these products in September, up 9.4 per cent from August.
China was the largest supplier, with exports worth USD 340 million, up 5.8 per cent. Other major suppliers included South Korea, with USD 77.2 million, up 22.2 per cent; Thailand, with USD 67.6 million, up 22.5 per cent; and Japan, with USD 46.5 million, up 8.3 per cent.
Cumulatively, imports of automotive components and spare parts reached USD 5.66 billion in the first nine months, up 37.6 per cent year on year.