Toyota reliability keeps it king of Vietnam used-car market

According to statistics from Oto.com.vn, a used car buying and selling platform, Japanese cars, especially Toyota, saw the highest number of ads for sale and transaction contacts in 2023.

Toyota vehicles are renowned for their durability, practicality and high resale value.Of the top 10 car models with ads for resale, Toyota has four names - Vios, Innova, Fortuner, and Camry. South Korean brands had three - Kia Morning, Hyundai i10 and Hyundai Accent.

The list was rounded off by Mazda3 and CX-5 and the only pickup, the Ford Ranger. "The prices of used Japanese cars from brands such as Toyota and Mazda remain high," Anh Dung, manager of a used car salon in Hanoi, said. "Used car salons prioritize purchasing these car models because of their good liquidity in the market."

Toyota’s Vios has an average devaluation rate of only 5-7%, the lowest in the market, he said. The most popular used cars are those with a low chassis such as the Vios (B-sized sedan), Kia Morning, Hyundai i10 and Chevrolet Spark (A-sized hatchback), Toyota Camry (D-sized sedan), and Mazda3 (C-sized sedan).

According to used car dealers, B-sized sedans and A-sized hatchbacks are widely traded at VND300-400 million (US$12,000-16,000).

Low price, practicality and reliability are the top criteria for buyers. "For some VND400 million, customers can choose from a number of second-hand A-sized sedans and hatchbacks," Ba Cong, owner of a business that buys and sells used cars in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, said.

Vios, Kia K3, Morning, Hyundai i10, and Accent are very popular because, in addition to their reasonable prices, they are also small enough easy to be driven easily in urban areas, he added.

Dung said Vietnamese used their cars for an average of seven years until 2018, but that number has decreased to four or five years.

Customers tend to change cars and upgrade to new models faster when their incomes increase and the market has a variety of new offerings.

B-sized sedans and A-sized hatchbacks have dominated the new car market for a long time, and so these cars appear more often in the used car market.

Small high-chassis vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles are often used in the transportation and taxi businesses.

The owners tend to use their cars for a long time, and so these do not come to the second-hand market as much as others.