Car imports see recovery in March

Import turnover of completely built-up (CBU) cars in March increased by 55.4% in volume and 41.4% in value compared to the previous month.

A preliminary report from the General Statistics Office (GSO) said that Vietnam imported about 15,000 CBU cars in March with a value of US$287 million.

However, this import decreased slightly by 1.7% in volume and 18.8% in value compared to the figures in March 2023.

The strong recovery in CBU car import in March was due to the car import in February falling sharply when businesses stopped all import-export activities during the seven-day Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Those numbers in February reached 9,650 units in volume and $203 million in value.

Thus, CBU car import turnover in March had a strong recovery despite the market situation not showing clear positive signals.

Positive signals from the economic recovery are bringing back higher expectations of domestic car demand.

The CBU car import is expected to continuously recover in the second quarter of 2024.

After the Lunar New Year holiday in February, the Vietnamese auto market welcomed many new car models, mainly imported cars.

GSO also reported that the total import of CBU cars in the first three months of 2024 was estimated at 31,452 units worth $632 million, down 25.1% in volume and 31.7% in value year on year.

This was still a very low turnover compared to 2023, before the market fell into a period of deep decline in demand.