Toyota Vietnam hits new record high for auto sales, parts exports
Toyota Vietnam hits new record high for auto sales, parts exports
Toyota Vietnam announced that it had set a new record in revenue for auto parts exports and auto sales last year. The company sold 65,856 cars in the local market and posted US$71 million in export revenue for automobile accessories, both rising 11% year-on-year.
Its automobile sales, excluding Lexus units, were remarkable, though the local automobile sector underwent a hardship in 2018, raising its total accumulative sales to over 510,000 cars. Of this, its locally assembled vehicles exceeded 52,000 units, up 27% versus that of 2017.
Toyota Vietnam mainly exports automobile parts, such as antennas, exhaust gas recycle valves and acceleration pedals, to 13 countries and territories, including India, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Taiwan, and has reaped positive results, despite the low localization rate of its locally assembled cars in the country. The company’s export revenue for automobile parts in 2018 was the highest recorded since the Japanese automaker launched its automobile parts export center in Vietnam in 2004.
The automaker recorded a surge in automobile parts exports in 2018 for the third consecutive year, which exceeded the average of US$40 million in previous years. As such, its total automobile parts exports have reached nearly US$535 million to date.
Apart from this, the firm invested more than US$21 million in vehicle assembling activities, though it has boosted import of various models from Thailand and Indonesia.
Last year, the automaker founded a specialized team to support its suppliers, particularly Vietnamese firms, to help them improve their manufacturing capacities and thus enhance product quality and productivity. This move is expected to raise Toyota’s localization rate in particular and contribute to the local automobile sector’s growth as a whole.
The firm served over one million customers at its authorized retail dealers and service facilities across the country. With its hefty revenues, Toyota Vietnam last year paid nearly US$700 million in taxes, increasing its total tax contribution to almost US$7.7 billion since its foundation in Vietnam.
According to data from the Vietnam Auto Manufacturers' Association, more than 288,000 cars were sold nationwide last year, up 5.8% versus 2017.
