Motorbikes are assembled at a Piaggio Vietnam factory. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Vietnamese motorcycle market in 2018 brokeits sales record set seven years ago with nearly 3.4 million units sold for ayear-on-year increase of 3.5 percent.
According to the Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (VAMM), itsfive members – Honda, Piaggio, Suzuki, SYM and Yamaha – sold more than 282,000vehicles per month on average.
This consumption figure is only for the Vietnamese market. VAMM does notdisclose the export vehicle sales of its members.
Honda is currently manufacturing and distributing 24 motorcycle models,accounting for more than 70 percent of the market share nationwide. Theremaining market share belongs to Yamaha’s 12 models, Piaggio’s 12 models,Suzuki’s 13 models and SYM’s 19 models.
The products range from affordable to high-end and luxury motorcycles,including manual models, scooters and sports motorcycles with prices listedfrom tens of millions of dong to more than one billion.
With this wide variety of products, motorbike manufacturers cover every marketsector and provide customers a range of choices.
The motorcycle market also includes other enterprises such as Ducati, Kawasaki,BMW, KTM, Benelli, Peugeot and Harley-Davidson. They were recently joined byVinFast electric motorbikes. However, there are not yet sales figures fromthese firms.
In a conference held in Hanoi in 2017, Chairman of VAMM Yano Takeshi said theVietnamese motorcycle market had become saturated, and was shifting from manualmotorcycles to scooters. Scooters accounted for more than 45 percent of salesand should be a strong growth segment in the future as per capita incomeincreases.
In the view of insiders, along stable economic growth, the incomes ofVietnamese people are increasing, leading to increased demand for new vehiclesdespite the Government’s policy of restricting motorcycles in large urbanareas.
In urban areas with narrow streets and long alleys, public transportation meetsa very small portion of travel demand. Experts said this deficiency meansmotorcycles will remain an essential means of transportation because theirflexibility and convenience make them suitable for the road conditions of Vietnam.
The Vietnamese motorbike market has become more active as Tet (Lunar New Year)approaches. This time of year, many customers rush to buy new vehicles. Manydealers have increased their prices by several million to tens of millions of dongper unit over the manufacturers’ listed prices for popular models like theHonda Vision, SH, Lead and Yamaha Exciter.
Sales consultants of Honda and Yamaha dealers said they could not follow thesuggested prices because they had to pay additional costs for shipping, groundrental and staff salaries. In particular, the dealers had to raise the pricesof some popular models to compensate for slow-selling units, which have seenprices reduced.
Pham Tran Hiep in Hanoi’s Nam Tu Liem district said: “If I do not needsomething urgently, I often wait until sale season to purchase. For example, insummer I will buy blankets while in winter I will buy fans or airconditioners.”
“When you come to the store at that time, customers are rare so they are givendiscounted prices,” said Hiep. “The prices are always cheaper. There is no needto buy products, including motorcycles, in a special time like Tet.”
Explaining the fact that some dealers have increased their prices, GeneralDirector of Honda Vietnam Toshio Kuwahara said the situation is the same in anumber of countries. For all scooter models, not only Honda vehicles, manyconsumers pay higher prices than manufacturers suggest.
He said Honda Vietnam does not support this phenomenon.
Kuwahara said Vietnam’s Competition Law states that motorcycle manufacturerscannot fix prices for distributors, trading companies and sales companies.Honda Vietnam and its agents – as well as Honda Ending Authorised Dealers(Head) – are independent legal entities involved in a partnership. The companyhas asked its authorised dealers not to sell motorcycles at inflated prices, butit has no right to force them to apply its pricing, he said.
A survey made by Honda Vietnam showed that, besides the increased shoppingactivity surrounding Tet, the higher prices are partly due to the imbalancebetween supply and demand. When there is insufficient supply, consumers willpay higher prices.
In an effort to change the situation, Honda Vietnam has been producing scootersat full capacity. The company has also expanded its factory in the northernprovince of Ha Nam to increase capacity by 10 percent to raise supply and bringprices in line with the manufacturer’s suggestions.-VNS/VNA
VNA
