Leaders divest capital one after another

Deputy General Director and member of the Board of Directors of Hang Xanh Auto Service Joint Stock Company - Haxaco (HAX) Tran Quoc Hai has just registered to sell 1.4 million HAX shares from September 23 to October 22. If the transaction is completed, Mr. Hai will reduce the number of shares held at Haxaco to nearly 1.24 million units, equivalent to 1.15% of shares.

Mr. Tran Quoc Hai is holding nearly 2.64 million HAX shares, equivalent to 2.46% of shares.

Mr. Hai registered to sell more than 50% of his shares in the context of Haxaco's recent sharp increase in shares, from 12,000 VND/share at the beginning of the year and 15,000 VND/share at the end of July to the current 17,000 VND/share.

If sold successfully at the current price, Mr. Hai will earn nearly 24 billion VND.

Previously, Haxaco Chairman Do Tien Dung registered to sell 700,000 of the nearly 18.8 million HAX shares he held (equivalent to nearly 17.5%). According to the announcement, Mr. Dung sold 100,000 HAX shares between July 8 and 31.

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Mr. Tran Quoc Hai registered to sell 1.4 million HAX shares from September 23 to October 22.

The reason Mr. Tran Quoc Hai and Mr. Dung sold HAX shares was to restructure their investment portfolio.

Mr. Tran Quoc Hai (51 years old) is a leader who has been associated with Haxaco for a long time. Mr. Hai has a degree in mechanical engineering, worked as a service consultant at Haxaco since 2000, then became a service director at HAX in 2011, then Deputy General Director and since 2016 has held the position of a member of the Board of Directors.

Hang Xanh Auto Service - Haxaco (HAX) is the "boss" of Mercedes car business in Vietnam, recently expanding to distribute mid-range cars of the MG brand from England, owned by SAIC (China).

Recently, Hang Xanh Auto recorded negative business results.

According to HAX, 2023 is a difficult year for automobile manufacturing and distribution enterprises in the Vietnamese market. The economic recession and people tightening their spending have caused a sharp decline in automobile consumption despite sharp price drops for many car models. As one of the leading luxury car distributors, Haxaco is greatly affected by this.

Last year, Haxaco only distributed 1,099 vehicles, a sharp decrease compared to 2022, showing that the auto market is increasingly fierce.

However, minimizing inventory and focusing on exploiting the service sector since mid-year has helped this business escape losses and achieve positive profits. As a result, in 2023, HAX's revenue reached VND 3,982 billion, down 41% over the same period last year. Pre-tax profit reached VND 48 billion, equal to 15% of the plan.

'Boss' switches to cheap Chinese cars

Haxaco recorded positive business results in the first half of 2024 with revenue increasing from nearly VND 1,790 billion in the same period to more than VND 2,160 billion, and profit after tax increasing from more than VND 6.2 billion to nearly VND 53.8 billion. Profit after tax in the second quarter of 2024 reached nearly VND 22 billion, compared to more than VND 2.7 billion in the same period last year. The growth rate is about 8 times.

Mr. Do Tien Dung estimates that in the second quarter of 2024, product distribution activities from MG will bring 90% of the company's profits.

Thus, in the context of difficulties in selling luxury Mercedes cars in Vietnam, Haxaco has focused on selling the low-priced MG car line of the Chinese company SAIC.

At the end of September 2023, Haxaco and SAIC Motor Vietnam Co., Ltd. opened MG's Flaship showroom in Ho Chi Minh City, the largest and most magnificent of MG in Vietnam.

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MG4 EV - The electric car model had the opportunity to appear at Vietnam Motorshow 2022.

Haxaco has held the majority market share in the Mercedes-Benz Vietnam distribution system for many years, with 5 dealers in 3 major cities: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Can Tho.

In the orientation, the company of Chairman Do Tien Dung continues to maintain its position as the leading distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Vietnam. However, besides distributing luxury cars, the company also promotes the distribution of MG car segment - "walking on two legs for sustainable development".

Currently, Haxaco Group has 6 MG dealers in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Can Tho, Bac Giang and plans to open more MG dealers in Bac Ninh, Dong Nai, Da Nang,... The company's goal is to have 10 to 12 MG dealers nationwide by the end of this year.

It can be seen that Haxaco is “living” thanks to cheap Chinese cars. MG cars are considered to have a high competitive advantage thanks to low interest rates on car loans and quite reasonable prices, thereby creating motivation to stimulate car buying.

However, Haxaco assesses that competition in the automobile industry in Vietnam is extremely fierce and complicated, with the presence of many brands around the world, from popular to high-end car lines, as well as the appearance of new car lines such as electric cars. The market is diverse, consumers have more choices but at the same time it also poses great challenges for automobile businesses, including Haxaco.

Businesses must not only compete on price but also focus on product quality, after-sales service and technological innovation. Competition comes not only from long-standing and established brands in the market, but also from emerging brands with flexible pricing strategies and the application of new technology.

However, it is not only luxury car sales that are facing difficulties, some businesses that sell cheap cars are also struggling.

After a year of selling Chinese electric cars, TMT Motors (TMT) reported a record loss in the second quarter and doubts were raised about its ability to continue operating. TMT is known as the company that sells cheap Chinese electric cars, Wuling.

According to TMT's explanation, the economic recession, frozen real estate, sharp decline in public investment, increased risk of inflation, and people tightening their spending... caused car consumption to drop sharply, despite businesses continuously reducing prices to clear inventory.

Wuling Hongguang MiniEV is a famous small electric car model in China, which won the title of "World's best-selling small electric car" for 4 consecutive years (2020-2023), produced by a joint venture of General Motors (USA), SAIC and Wuling of China. But in 2023, TMT only sold 591 units, equal to 11% of the plan. This year, TMT aims to sell 1,016 units.

Vietnamese auto giant suffers sluggish sales and heavy losses from selling Chinese electric cars . After a year of distributing electric cars for China's Wuling Mini EV, TMT Auto JSC recorded a loss of more than VND90 billion in the second quarter - the highest loss in its operating history.