Cars unsalable in the world, but selling well in Vietnam

VietNamNet Bridge – While the car sales have plummeted in the world market, in Vietnam, there are still not enough Toyota or Honda cars to satisfy demand. In such a market, ‘fixers’ thrive.

Car models all in short supply

Vietnam is really a lucrative market for automobile manufacturers: cars still sell well here despite the economic downturn.

All the models offered by Toyota Vietnam are reportedly in short supply, especially Vios, Altis and Camry. Customers have been told that if they place orders right now, they will get delivery in November and December.

A business officer of Toyota urges customers to place orders right now, or you will have to wait a long time to get deliveries,” he said. “Even for the Innova van, customers have to wait till October, and longer for the smaller models which are now the top choices of customers”.

However, it is not easy to place orders now. Toyota My Dinh has rejected orders for ‘hot’ models since May. A salesman of the agent said that it will only have cars by October to deliver to the customers who have signed contracts. Therefore, it has decided to stop signing new contracts to avoid risks.

Honda’s models are also reportedly in short supply. Customers who want to purchase a Honda Civic, will have to wait until August to get delivery. If they want Honda CRV, will have to wait until October. And if they want a silver-gray Civic or CRV, they’ll have to wait even longer.

GM Daewoo (Vidamco) reports satisfactory sales of its Lacetti and Gentra small sedans. A Vidamco manager said that the firm can’t promise its customers deliveries until August. Red Gentras are in especially high demand.

“I visited different car sales agents looking for a Vios and I was told to place orders, pay a deposit and wait,” said one weary customer.

Profitable opportunities for ‘fixers’

“If you place your order for an Altis right now, normally you won’t get delivery until December. But you if want delivery sooner, you just need to pay me 40 million dong to install some additional equipment for the car. I will try to arrange a car for you in August,” a salesman of Toyota LH told a VTC journalist that he thought was a prospective customer.

Toyota LH is the sales agent that announced during the ‘SUV/MPV fever’ in April, before higher taxes on those vehicles went into effect, that it would only sell cars to customers who agreed to pay 20 million dong to ‘install more equipment.’ It seems that the sales have been going so well that the sum of money has been doubled.

The short supply brings golden opportunity for ‘fixers’ (called ‘storks’ in Vietnamese slang) to ‘do business’. It is impossible now to purchase cars at the manufacturers’ suggested retail prices (MSRP). The only way to get car deliveries soon is to pay additional money to sales agents.

In insider explained how this is done. Salesmen’s relatives sign contracts to buy cars. Then, a salesman will contact customers to resell the contracts signed with the manufacturers under the salesmen’s relatives’ names. A lot of customers agree to pay additional money to get deliveries soon, rather than waiting many months to get cars. On some auto forums, the required premiums are $1,000-1,500.

A customer named Long complained that the official sales agents say cars have run out, but if customers agree to pay more money, they still have cars to sell. “Customers are the biggest sufferers. They have to clench their teeth while their pockets are picked,” he said.

In the rest of the world, as the global crisis has deepened, cars have been almost unsalable. In the huge North American market, Toyota’s small car sales in June were 32 percent below the same period of the last year. To pump up sales, Hyundai and Suzuki have been offering ‘low cost petrol’ to those who purchase their cars.

Meanwhile, in Vietnam, there are not enough cars to sell. A question has been raised that if it is true that automobile joint ventures are short of cars to sell, or this is just the art of marketing?

VietNamNet/VTC