Chinese cars "offer" billions of dong If more than 10 years ago, Chinese car brands such as Lifan, Chery, Zotye, BYD... chose to introduce low-cost car models to conquer Vietnamese customers, in the past 2 years, the "debut" of Chinese car companies has shown a very different strategy. Instead of continuing to focus on the low-cost car segment to attract customers, a series of new Chinese car models introduced in Vietnam are aimed at the high-price segment, on par with Japanese and Korean competitors. For example, Haima 7X costs 865 million VND, Haval H6 HEV is 1.096 billion VND or Lynk & Co 01 and 09 are 999 million VND and 2.199 billion VND respectively. In general, most of the prices of Chinese car models are contrary to the majority's predictions, or in other words, much higher than the expectations of Vietnamese consumers. Many people even question whether the quality of the car is really commensurate with the above price. Some experts believe that Chinese car brands are shifting to distributing more expensive cars in order to gradually eliminate the previous prejudice of Vietnamese customers about the quality of Chinese cars. However, placing Chinese cars on par with Korean and Japanese competitors puts these car models at a great disadvantage in the Vietnamese market.

Despite having a lower selling price than before, the return of MG HS is still full of challenges. Photo: MG

Typically, the MG HS model, when launched in July 2020 with a selling price of nearly 1 billion VND, was expected to be a formidable competitor in the C-SUV segment, competing with Hyundai Tucson, Honda CR-V or Mazda CX-5. But after nearly 2 years of existence, this model had to temporarily stop selling due to sluggish sales. Even when it was sold again in January 2024 with a new version with a lower selling price (699-749 million VND), MG HS still could not improve sales, forcing dealers to launch incentive programs of up to 120 million VND for this model. Currently, the price of MG HS is cheaper than cars in the B-SUV segment. Not only MG HS, the hybrid Haval H6 HEV also faced a similar situation when it entered the market in August 2023 with a selling price of 1.096 billion VND, more expensive than the highest version of Mazda CX-5 (999 million VND) or Hyundai Tucson (959 million VND) at that time. After only 2 months of opening for sale with sales not as expected, the Haval brand distributor was forced to reduce the selling price of H6 HEV by 244 million VND to 852 million VND. However, Haval H6 HEV is still struggling to find customers even though the current car price only fluctuates between 840-862 million VND.

Haval H6 HEV is difficult to reach customers when priced high, over 1 billion VND. Photo: Hoang Hiep

Meanwhile, Haima 7X was launched in the market at the end of December 2023, positioned in the mid-size MPV segment. However, with a selling price of 865 million VND, 55 million VND higher than its competitor Toyota Innova Cross, Haima 7X is almost ignored. Recently, Haima dealers had to reduce the price by 140 million VND to improve the business situation of this MPV model. According to expert Nguyen Manh Thang (Whatcar Vietnam), the high selling price of Chinese car models can come from many reasons. First, most of the Chinese car models brought to Vietnam are mainly imported from China, so they are subject to high import taxes, from 47-70% depending on the type. Second, the technology content, comfort level and manufacturing materials on current Chinese car models are all of significantly better quality. Third is the proactive strategy in positioning the brand of car manufacturers. Finally, we want to erase the prejudice of users that Chinese car brands can only produce low-quality, low-priced cars . What are the opportunities for Chinese cars? The biggest advantage of Chinese car brands when entering the Vietnamese market is the selling price. It can be seen that the selling price of most Chinese car models, although higher than users' expectations, is still lower than that of Japanese and Korean car models.

The interiors of Chinese cars have the same level of comfort and modernity as high-end luxury cars. Photo: Ngo Minh

In addition, it is undeniable that in recent years, Chinese car manufacturers have seriously invested in the research and development process, combined with technological strengths that have helped them provide customers with modern, convenient and safe car models that are not inferior to long-standing car brands. According to experts, the Chinese are always sharp in business and the massive influx of Chinese car brands into Vietnam in the past 2 years shows that they have seen opportunities for themselves in the Vietnamese car market, which still has a lot of potential. In fact, the problem that Chinese car manufacturers are facing and need to solve when they want to enter the Vietnamese market is not only high prices, product quality but also building a distribution system and warranty and maintenance services. If this is solved, the opportunity to conquer the Vietnamese car market will grow bigger and bigger.

Lynk & Co 09 is positioned by the Chinese car company in the high-end car segment. Photo: Ngo Minh

Nowadays, cars have become a popular means of transportation but at the same time are still considered a valuable asset for many people. Based on the psychology of consumers in this period, the safe choice of many people will certainly still be Japanese, American and Korean car brands that have positioned and attached to Vietnamese customers for many years with quality products. Therefore, Chinese car brands will certainly take a little more time to assert themselves, as well as for Vietnamese consumers to more openly accept car models from the billion-people country. Currently, the number of young customers buying cars to experience the products is increasing. They are also not too prejudiced against new brands, and this may be the customer group that Chinese car companies can target.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/o-to-trung-quoc-o-at-vao-viet-nam-gia-ban-cao-ai-se-mua-2313756.html