Toyota is the most active brand in the urban SUV segment (from A+ to B+) in the Vietnam market. However, the Japanese brand is not the “sales king” in this popular group of cars.
In 2023, the throne belongs to Kia with 2 models including Sonet and Seltos, with a total sales of 21,029 units. Toyota ranks second with 18,087 units sold, while another sales leader is Hyundai, ranking third with 10,899 urban SUVs sold in 2023.
Other major brands competing in this segment include Honda (3,804 units) and Mazda (3,157 units). In fact, the market may have a few other names like Peugeot, VinFast or Nissan participating but not disclosing detailed sales numbers.
Kia is the best-selling urban SUV in Vietnam in 2023.
It seems that Kia understands the car-buying taste of Vietnamese consumers with both of its models in this category, Seltos and Sonet, having good sales. Sonet is the best-selling urban SUV in the market with 11,366 units, while Seltos ranks 4th with over 9,600 units.
Meanwhile, Toyota, which dominated this segment the previous year, showed signs of decline when its “trump card” Corolla Cross had poor sales in the last months of the year. If we consider the whole year’s sales, this model also decreased by half compared to 2022, with only 10,485 units sold.
In contrast, the newly introduced Yaris Cross has not been in the country for long and its supply is not stable. Only in the last 2 months of the year, when Toyota heavily discounted the Yaris Cross, did the sales of the new product increase. This is a direct competitor to Kia Seltos and Hyundai Creta. Meanwhile, Toyota Raize is clearly falling behind its competitor Sonet in the race.
It is worth mentioning that all 3 urban SUV models from Toyota are imported while Kia’s 2 models are assembled domestically, meaning they are eligible for the 50% registration fee support policy in the second half of 2023, which is a considerable sales advantage.
As for Hyundai, having almost only one competing model, Creta, clearly limits choices for consumers. It wasn’t until December that the company brought in the Venue in the A+ segment to compete with Kia Sonet and Toyota Raize. It is possible that the Venue will play a more important role in Hyundai’s product range in 2024.
Specific sales of notable urban SUV models in Vietnam last year.
The other 2 major Japanese brands also compete in this segment with Honda’s HR-V and Mazda’s CX-3 and CX-30, which are considered “spices” to increase choices for customers rather than aiming for flat sales. Honda HR-V achieved sales of over 3,800 units, a significant increase compared to 2022, while the combined sales of CX-3 and CX-30 reached over 3,100 units.
In 2024, the urban SUV segment is predicted to remain one of the most vibrant segments in the market. In addition to the Hyundai Venue, which went on sale in December, another notable model is the Mitsubishi Xforce, which was recently launched in January 2024 with high ambitions.
