This item is automobile components and spare parts. According to the latest statistics from the General Department of Customs, from the beginning of the year until February 15, 2024, Vietnam has spent up to $430 million on importing automobile components and spare parts. This figure is down more than 10% compared to the same period of 2023, equivalent to a decrease of more than $50 million.
In the first 45 days of 2024, our country imported this item from many markets, with a focus on countries such as China, Thailand, South Korea… In particular, by the end of January 2024, Vietnam imported the most automobile components and spare parts from the Chinese market, with a value of $92.1 million. After China, in just 1 month, our country spent $75 million to import this item from South Korea, $55 million from Thailand, and $43 million from Japan…
| China | 92.1 |
|---|---|
| South Korea | 75 |
| Thailand | 55 |
| Japan | 43 |
| India | 24.5 |
| Indonesia | 16.2 |
| Other markets | 34.2 |
Vietnam’s import value of automobile components and spare parts from major markets in January 2024. Chart: MH
In addition to automobile components and spare parts, Vietnam also spent $47.1 million to import complete cars from the Chinese market. China is also the market from which Vietnam imports the most complete cars.
In fact, in January 2024 alone, Vietnam’s export turnover of transport vehicles and spare parts reached $1.33 billion, up 13.2% compared to December 2023. The markets that exported this group of goods in the first month of 2024 were mainly Japan ($307 million, up 60%); the US ($290 million, up 93.4%); South Korea with $159 million, up 135.6% compared to the same period last year…
Clearly, Vietnam exports transport vehicles and spare parts worth more than $1 billion/month, but spends hundreds of millions of dollars to import automobile components and spare parts. Furthermore, despite the higher value of export components and accessories than imports, domestic automobile companies still have to look for foreign sources to carry out assembly.
Why does this contradiction occur?
Vietnam imports many automobile components and spare parts from other countries around the world to serve the domestic supporting industry. Illustrated image
According to representatives of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), the reason why Vietnam imports many automobile components and spare parts from other countries is because these items in Vietnam are mostly simple and there is a lot of processing involved. Most of these components are put into export processing zones and then applied with advanced technology by the companies here, as well as adding copyright components to become a complete cluster of components that can be assembled into automobiles.
On the other hand, the supporting industry in our country has not yet developed mainly because many domestic enterprises have not been able to make a complete component cluster. Instead, they only participate in certain stages or contribute certain details such as springs, tires, wiring harnesses, large-scale plastics…
According to VAMA, automobiles produced in Thailand and Indonesia only import about 10% of components, while vehicles assembled in Vietnam have to import more than 80% of components. This also leads to higher production costs and assembly costs for domestically produced vehicles compared to fully imported vehicles from ASEAN countries.
To overcome the bottlenecks in the supporting industry, especially in automobile components and spare parts, experts believe that the top priority at present is to increase the market size, develop appropriate programs to connect enterprises in the automobile industry, provide and update regularly the database on suppliers… In addition, the Government needs to have mechanisms to attract foreign suppliers to Vietnam, in order to improve the capacity of domestic manufacturers, and encourage enterprises to expand investment in automobile component production.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam currently has about 2,000 enterprises producing spare parts and components, creating jobs for more than 600,000 workers. Among them, about 300 enterprises participate in multinational supply chains. Currently, THACO Industries is the leading company in the production of components and spare parts in Vietnam, with plastic products for the automobile industry such as wheel caps, wind deflectors, bumpers, pickup truck wind visors… The main export market of this company is the United States, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
In addition, recently, state-level visits have opened up many opportunities for economic cooperation between the Government, Vietnamese enterprises, and foreign countries. With these advantages, the development of the supporting industry and the export market of automobile components and spare parts will have many opportunities in the future.
Reference article: Customs, Moit, VAMA
