A reduction in registration fees for new cars assembled in Vietnam is being considered again. This would likely be a 50 percent reduction in line with past registration fee reductions.
Of note, it has been reported that the uncertainty around a possible registration fee reduction is seeing buyers hold out on buying new cars in the hopes that they might receive a discount next month.
For some context, registration fees can vary between provinces, however, the highest it can be, per Circular 229, is VND 20 million or about US$786. With a 50 percent discount that’s VND 10 million or about US$393.
With a new car running at around VND 300 million to VND 500 million this reduction in registration fees is a drop in the bucket. In this context, one reading of this might be that correlation does not necessarily mean causation. It could also be, however, that the love for a good discount in Vietnam is not always entirely rational.
See also: Vietnam’s Automotive Industry 2024: Foreign Investor Cheat Sheet