2023 is an unfavorable year for the Vietnamese auto market. Reduced sales and reduced prices are the most frequently mentioned phrases in a difficult year for the consumer market.

From the record sales of more than 500,000 cars in 2022, the purchasing power of the auto market in 2023 decreased by nearly 140,000 cars, equivalent to 27.4% compared to the previous year. Specifically, according to data from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), the association's members sold a total of 301,989 cars of all types. Meanwhile, Hyundai Thanh Cong Vietnam announced the sale of 67,450 cars. Thus, the total car sales in Vietnam reached about 369,439.

Auto sales in Vietnam in 2015-2023 (unit: thousand cars).Source: VAMA, HTC.

This statistic does not include VinFast, some other brands such as Nissan, Subaru, and MG, or some luxury car brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volvo, etc.

During that difficult period, Hyundai Thanh Cong surpassed its direct competitor Toyota to become the top brand in the market with 67,450 cars. However, this number was still 14,000 units lower than in 2022.

Compared to other competitors, Hyundai is trying to build a product range with high sales efficiency. Among these, the B-class sedan Accent and the urban SUV Creta are the leading models in their segments, both in highly competitive segments, in addition to the Grand i10 leading the A-class hatchback group. Meanwhile, other models such as Santa Fe, Tucson, Cusin, and Stargazer are all very competitive in their segments. Only the Hyundai Elantra somewhat shows weakness in the C-class sedan segment, which is also a relatively picky segment in Vietnam at this period.

Meanwhile, Toyota had a rather difficult year when sales reduced sharply from more than 91,000 cars in 2021 to 57,414 cars. The company's two main car models which are Vios and Corolla Cross both have not so good sales. Corolla Cross is having problems with supply from Thailand. New models such as the Veloz Cross, Inova Cross (MPV segment), or Yaris Cross (urban SUV) have not been able to break through in their segments. Not to mention, Toyota also owns many models that regularly reach the slow-selling top of the month, such as the Hilux pickup truck.

Kia continues to be a solid brand in the 3rd position in the market, although sales decreased by about 20,000 cars compared to 2022. Like Hyundai, many Kia models compete well in the segment, although sales are not at the top, like the Kia Sonet, Seltos, and Carnival.

The group of brands ranked 4th to 6th has one common feature: they all have a "star" car model with outstanding sales in the segment. For example, Ford, the brand ranked 4th, has the Ranger in the pickup segment; Mazda has the CX-5 model in the C-class crossover segment; and Mitsubishi is the "sales king" Xpander. The number of cars sold by these brands is 38,322 cars, 35,632 cars, and 30,984 cars, respectively. Among them, Ford deserves to be the most impressive brand last year when "going against the flow" to increase sales by nearly 10,000 cars in the context of a declining market.

The remaining positions all belong to Japanese brands, including Honda, Suzuki, and Isuzu.