Expensive cars dislodged from Vietnam, low-cost cars flood the market | Look At Vietnam

Expensive cars dislodged from Vietnam, low-cost cars flood the market

May 9, 2012

LookAtVietnam – The Vietnamese automobile market, which once cooled down
after the news about the tax and fee increases, has warmed up again with the
appearance of small size cars, brand new and very cheap.

Since early May 2012, the images of Zotye Z100, the Chinese latest small car
model, which is forecast to be the redoubtable rival of the current cheapest car
model Tata Nano, have been spread from each other among the Internet users’
community.
With the eye catching appearance, Zotye Z100 has 1.0L engine. The medium version
has the starting price at 23,800 yuan, or 3700 dollars or 80 million dong.
Meanwhile, higher grade version is priced at 25,800 yuan, or 4000 dollars or 85
million dong.
Regarding the interior equipments, though being listed as low cost product,
Zotye Z100 also has air conditioner and felt chairs. The vehicle has been
launched in Hangzhou, where the headquarters of Zotye is located.
In the past, Zotye specialized in providing car parts of different kinds.
However, since 2005, when it bought Auto Jiang Nan, it began joining the group
of Chinese automobile manufacturers.
Another model of the low-cost market segment – Bajaj RE60, the small size one
introduced at the Indian Automobile Exhibition on January 3 – has surpassed the
fellow-countryman Tata Nano to become the cheapest model in the world with the
sale price of 3300 dollars.
Bajaj RE60 has also entered its name on the history of the modern automobile
manufacturing industry as the vehicle with the smallest engine after the World
War 2. With the cylinder capacity of 200 cubic meters, Bajaj RE60 only has the
capacity of 20 horsepower and can reach the maximum speed of 70 kilometers per
hour.
The weight of Bajaj RE60 is 400 kilos, while the fuel consumption is
attractively low 2.83 liters per 100 kilometers. With four seats, RE60 has the
length of 2752 mm.
Indian Tata once caught the special attention in the world when launching the
low cost Nano car model in 2008. In the domestic market, Nano is sold at 100,000
rupee, or 2172 dollars. However, Nano is sold at 7000-8000 dollars to the US
clients. Meanwhile, President of Tata Group still believes that this is a very
competitive price which would be accepted by the buyers there.
In October 2011, Vietnamese newspapers repeatedly reported the Indian group’s
plans to build a factory in Vietnam, capitalized at 5 billion dollars, for
making the world’s cheapest cars.
However, experts have warned that Nano may not be a low cost model when it
enters the Vietnamese market, because of the current tax and fee policies being
applied in the country. They said that Nano may turn out to be expensive in
Vietnam with the price triple the original price. At present, Vietnam is
considered the market with the highest car prices in the world due to the
investment and tax policies.
The prices of the cars made in Vietnam are 2.5 times higher than in the US. A
Camry 2.4 made by Toyota Vietnam, for example, is priced at 1 billion dong, or
50,000 dollars. Meanwhile, a Camry 2.5 in the US made by Toyota USA is sold at
20,000 dollars only.
A Civic Si 2.4, which has the sale price at 22,000 dollars in the US, would be
priced no less than 40,000 dollars in Vietnam.
Car experts have said it’s too early to say that the low cost cars would trigger
a new tendency in car consumption in Vietnam, but they would create a “low-cost
car revolution” in the country, where people have to pay too high to possess
cars.
Source: Dat Viet