Over 2,000 Honda cars from Thailand – first batches of cars covered by zero import duty under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) were imported to Vietnam.
The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported that according to commitments under AFTA, cars imported from the bloc will face zero tax from January 1 this 12 months and the localization ratio within the country of origin can be 40 percent or higher.
The current batch includes the Jazz, Accord, CR-V and Civic models.
A Honda Vietnam representative said that to be able to import cars to Vietnam, the corporate needed to comply with Vietnamese Decree 116 on the conditions of production, assembly, import, warranty service and maintenance of cars, and particularly, obtain a vehicle type approval certificate issued by the Thai Land Transport Department.
A consultant on the Honda agency in My Dinh said the brand new vehicles would hit the market in May or early June, as emission, quality and technical safety checks on the ports would take one or two months.
“The price of each car is expected to drop by more than VND200 million. This will be a turning point for the Vietnamese car market,” the worker said.
Earlier, informants calculated that due to the zero import tax, the value of cars imported from ASEAN countries to Vietnam would drop by 20-25 percent.
Toyota Motor Vietnam and Ford Vietnam are completing procedures to comply with Decree 116 requirements to import Vietnam’s hottest cars, similar to the Ford Explorer, Everest, Ranger, Toyota Fortuner and Yaris.
Source: Vietnam News Agency
