New vehicle sales in Vietnam continued to expand in June 2022, by over 7% to 22,067 units from 20,562 units a year earlier, according to the Vietnam Automotive Manufacturers Association (VAMA).
Sales growth last month slowed sharply after surging 78% to a record high of 39,469 units in May, as manufacturers moved to fulfil pent up demand following the recent covid lockdowns and the global semiconductor shortage. Economic growth accelerated to 7.7% year on year in the second quarter after growing by just over 5% in Q1, driven by strong service sector and industrial output growth.
Vehicle sales in H1 2022 increased by almost 37% by 185,467 units from 135,606 in the same period of last year, with sales of light passenger vehicles surging by 50% to 149,152 units while commercial vehicle sales were just slightly higher at 36,315 units.
Truong Hai (Thaco) group, the local assembler and distributor of brands such as Kia, Mazda, Peugeot, BMW-Mini and a significant player in the commercial vehicle segment, reported a 44% rise in group sales to 74,480 units YTD. This included a 65% surge in Kia sales to 35,485 units, a 46% rise in Mazda sales to 19,455 units and a 94% jump in Peugeot sales to 6,594 units, while Thaco truck sales were down 4% at 11,847 units.
Toyota H1 sales increased 47% to 43,085 units while Honda sales surged 73% to 20,191, Mitsubishi 18,116 (+21%), Ford 9,697 (-15%) and Suzuki 9,171 (+35%).
VAMA data did not include all brands including Mercedes Benz and domestic start-up VinFast which reported an 8% decline to 14,695 units in H1 after a 21% rise to 37,723 units in 2021. The company began deliveries of its first electric vehicle (EV) model, the VF e34, at the end of December and is in the process of rolling out an EV recharging network.