Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry of Finance has officially askedthe Government to cut 50 percent of the registration fee for customers who buylocally-produced and assembled automobiles.

This is thekey part of a governmental decree drafted by the finance ministry, which isexpected to be applied from this month until the end of this year.

The draft decree was opened to ideas from ministries, sectors, localities, thebusiness community, organisations and individuals before being sent to the Governmentfor approval.

The ministry has received 47 contributions, including those from ministries ofForeign Affairs and Industry and Trade, to ensure compatibility between thedecree with relevant international treaties, of which Vietnam is a member.

All participants agreed with the need for this decree for the development ofthe domestic automobile industry as well as its contents.

The ministry’s preliminary assessment shows that the cut of 50 percent of theregistration fee for locally-manufactured and assembled vehicles will affectlocal budget revenue in the last six months of this year, with an estimatedamount of 3.7 trillion VND (159 million USD).

According to current regulations, the buyers of cars with nine seats or lesshave to pay registration fee of 10 percent of the car value in cities andprovinces, except for Hanoi, which applies a rate of 12 percent.

Meanwhile, buyers of pick-up trucks with transport volume of less than 1,500kilos and five seats or fewer, and vans with capacity of 1,500 kilos or less,will pay an amount equal to 60 percent of the nine-seat car’s registration fee.

The average revenue generated by the registration fees on locally-manufacturedand assembled vehicles is about 16 trillion VND per year.

Vietnam has initially controlled the COVID-19 pandemic, but the diseasecontinues to affect countries around the world, showing no signs of slowingdown. Many industries are heavily affected, including domestic automobileassembly and manufacturing.

During the social distancing period, most of the large car manufacturers andassemblers, such as Thaco, Thanh Công, VinFast, Toyota, Ford and Honda, had tosuspend production and assembly activities, causing disruptions to supplychains and demand.

Insiders said that domestic automakers have restarted production and resumedsupply chains, but due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic manydifficulties lie ahead, especially for domestic automobile manufacturing andassembly enterprises who are dealing with high volumes of inventory.

It’s predicted that the automobile market will not only be impacted this yearbut also for a few years to come.

The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) says its members unitsconsumed nearly 19,100 various cars in May, up 62 percent compared with theprevious month. Of the sales, there were more than 13,000 passenger cars, 5,800commercial vehicles, and 260 special purpose vehicles.

VAMA members sold 83,200 cars of all types this year, down 34 percentyear-on-year.

The above figure does not include sales from other brands, which are not VAMAmembers, including TC MOTOR, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, Subaru, Volkswagenand Volvo.

TC MOTOR (representative of Hyundai Thanh Cong brand), saw the highest volumein May sales with 4,800 units, bringing the total sales in the first fivemonths of this year to 22,400 vehicles of all kinds.

Experts said that Vietnam’s automobile market rebounded sharply in May becausethe country removed social distancing regulations in April, helping stimulatedemand. In addition, many auto businesses have launched discount andpromotional programmes for customers, so the May sales figures improved./.