Thailand has surpassed China to become Vietnam’s biggest car exporter, with rising truck sales in the first quarter of the year.
Thai vehicle imports dramatically increased in first quarter
Statistics from General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that Vietnam imported over 29,054 cars and trucks worth over USD732.7m in the first quarter, including 10,155 were imported from Thailand. South Korea followed with 5,369 cars and China stood third with 4,261.
2,300 trucks and cars were imported from Thailand in April alone, an increase of 130 percent compared to three months ago.
Most of them are pick-up trucks which have low import taxes in accordance with the agreements reach in the ASEAN Economic Community. In addition, pick-up trucks are favoured in Vietnam due to lower registration fees, including special consumption tax.
Vietnam imported USD1.8bn of goods from Thailand and exported USD836m in the first three months. The trade deficit increased to nearly USD1bn making it the highest trade deficit Vietnam has with an ASEAN country within the last two years.
High turnover imports include electric applicants, spare parts and automobiles.
Last year, Vietnam imported 125,600 cars and trucks that worth USD3.5bn. China was the biggest customer with 40,000 vehicles while Thailand ranked fourth with 25,140.
