According to Vietnam Credit, the production capacity of Vietnam's auto supporting industry is still low. The number of Vietnamese suppliers in the auto industry is much smaller than that of Thailand. Thailand has nearly 700 tier 1 suppliers while the figure for Vietnam is less than 100. As for tier 2 and 3 suppliers, there are 1,700 in Thailand while Vietnam has less than 150. (data by ASEAN SECURITIES, MOIT ).
On top of that, auto parts currently produced in Vietnam are mainly labor-intensive parts with simple technology such as glasses and tires.
In addition, Vietnam’s participation in the supply chain and production of automobile manufacturers in the region is very limited. Specifically, since 2018, imported cars of ASEAN origin have enjoyed an import tax rate of 0%. However, with such low production capacity, it can be seen that Vietnam benefits very little from the supply chain and production of automobile manufacturers in the ASEAN region.
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the entire automotive industry. However, Vietnam’s policy of supporting 50% of the registration fee applied to domestically assembled cars at the end of June 2020 has helped the industry overcome difficulties.
It was this support policy that has also had a significant impact on the market when helping sales of domestically assembled cars accelerate. The total sales of cars in Vietnam in 2020 was 296,634 units, which is just 8% lower than that in 2019.
Source: TC Motor, VAMA, VinFast ; Unit: car.
The joint venture factory between Hyundai Thanh Cong (Vietnam) and Hyundai Motor (Korea) is located in Ninh Binh. Famous Hyundai-branded cars such as: Hyundai SantaFe, Elantra, Grand i10, Tucson are manufactured and assembled in this factory. In the near future, Hyundai Thanh Cong plans to expand this factory and increase its production.
Hyundai Thanh Cong has been the company with the largest annual car sales for two years. In 2020, this company sold more than 81,000 vehicles to the market.
In addition to the two best-selling models, Accent and Grand i10, most of Hyundai's other passenger cars also dominate the market. In particular, Santa Fe holds the top of the best-selling 7-seat SUV in size D while Kona is only inferior to Kia Seltos and Toyota Corolla Cross.
Toyota is a popular Japanese car brand in Vietnam. Toyota Motor Vietnam automobile factory is located in Phuc Yen town, Vinh Phuc province. This is a joint venture between Toyota Japan Company, Vietnam Engine and Agriculture Corporation (VEAM) and KUO Company (Asia).
Currently, Toyota factory assembles CKD models such as Toyota Innova, Toyota Corolla Altis, Vios and Fortuner.
Toyota is also a leading automobile brand in Vietnam. However, despite the wide range of products, its product portfolio is uneven.
Previously, in the list of 10 most popular cars, Toyota regularly contributed 4-5 product lines. Now only Vios remains. Innova is far behind other MPV models while Fortuner has also been usurped by Hyundai Santa Fe.
Toyota Vietnam's sales of cars in 2020 was 70,692 vehicles.
Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco) specializes in manufacturing, assembling, importing, exporting, distributing, maintaining and repairing automobiles in Vietnam. Currently, Thaco is cooperating with many major automobile manufacturers in the world to import their products to Vietnam for assembly.
Mazda (Japan), KIA (Korea), Peugeot (France) and most recently BMW (Germany) are foreign cars assebled by Thaco. In addition, Thaco also cooperates with Hyundai and Foton to manufacture trucks and buses in Vietnam. The factory is located in Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. With modern technology and high-quality human resources, the company's annual output reaches 10,000 vehicles.
In 2020, sales of Kia, Mazda and trucks assembled and manufactured by Thaco were 39,180 vehicles, 32,224 vehicles and 24,119 vehicles, respectively.
VinFast is the first and currently the only Vietnamese car manufacturer. The company is headquartered in Hanoi and has a manufacturing plant in Hai Phong. The company has launched car product lines LUX SA2.0, LUX A2.0 and VinFast Fadil.
According to statistics, in 2020, VinFast sold to the market a total of 29,485 cars, of which Fadil was the most popular model with a sales volume of more than 18,000 units.
Established in 1994, Mitsubishi Motors Vietnam is the result of a relationship (a joint venture ) between Mitsubishi Automobile Manufacturing Company (Japan), Mitsubishi Trading Company (Japan) and Transport Investment Cooperation and Import Export Joint Stock Company (Vietnam), with head office in Binh Duong province.
The company has launched many high-quality automobile products such as Mitsubishi Pajero, Mitsubishi Grandis, Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, Mitsubishi Triton in Vietnam.
Mitsubishi’s car sales in 2020 was 28,954 units.
Ford Vietnam Limited is a joint venture between Ford Motor Corporation (the US) and Song Cong Diesel Company (Vietnam). The company has an assembly plant located in Hai Duong with a capacity of 14,000 vehicles a year. Ford's most popular CKD model in Vietnam is EcoSport.
In 2020, Ford Vietnam sold 24,663 vehicles.
Honda Vietnam Company Limited was established in 1996 with two main product lines: motorcycles and automobiles. However, it was not until 2005 that the company was licensed to manufacture and assemble automobiles in Vietnam. Honda automobile assembly plant is currently located in Vinh Phuc and Ha Nam.
Despite holding the largest market share in the motorcycle segment, Honda's automobile market share is not large. Total sales of Honda car models in Vietnam in 2020 only reached 24,418 vehicles.
Suzuki started manufacturing and assembling cars and motorcycles in Vietnam in 1996 at its factory in Binh Da Industrial Park, Dong Nai. The company has also built a new assembly plant in Binh Long Industrial Park, Bien Hoa, Dong Nai.
Currently, Suzuki's commercial vehicles are not highly appreciated by Vietnamese consumers, and have relatively low sales. However, sales of Suzuki-branded trucks are growing. After a long time of struggling with product strategy, Suzuki finally has had a best-selling model, which is XL7.
The total number of vehicles sold by Suzuki in 2020 was 14,518 units.
Alice Hoang Thao - Vietnam Credit
