(Dan Tri) – Customer acceptance has helped the urban high-riding vehicle segment in Vietnam last year experience many positive changes in both quantity and quality, promising to continue to boom in 2023.
High chassis vehicles are a trend in the world’s auto industry and Vietnam is no exception.
Previously, if they wanted to buy a high-riding car, Vietnamese people had to spend billions of dong to get C or D-sized SUV models like Hyundai Tucson or Toyota Fortuner.
This segment was opened by Daihatsu Terios in 2003 but really left its mark thanks to Ford EcoSport – first launched in our country in 2014. But it was not until 2018 when the market share had more competition from many products.
There is no longer any place for `lazy` upgraded products
After 4 years of dominance and 4 years of `struggle` in the B-sized urban SUV segment, Ford EcoSport’s journey in Vietnam officially came to an end in February 2022 when the American car company officially announced the `opening of
Ford EcoSport will be `discontinued` at the beginning of 2022 (Photo: Ford Vietnam).
A representative of Ford Vietnam said the main reason for stopping selling EcoSport was because the parent corporation restructured its assembly and component manufacturing plants in India.
However, the decision to stop assembling EcoSport is a reasonable move for the American brand because this model is no longer able to compete with competitors in the same segment, despite having the lowest suggested retail price.
Interior of Ford EcoSport (Photo: Ford Vietnam).
In 2018, two new models `joined the fight` in the B-sized urban SUV segment, including Hyundai Kona and Honda HR-V.
As for Hyundai Kona, this model quickly became the new star of the segment.
Hyundai Kona is the best seller in the B-size urban SUV segment in 2019 (Photo: TC Motor).
The rise of Hyundai Kona affected EcoSport’s consumption, causing this model to fall to 2nd place in the segment.
In the whole year of 2021, Ford EcoSport only sold 1,490 cars, less than 1/10 of Seltos (16,122 units) even though there are regular promotions at the dealership.
When first launched, the Kia Seltos was often in `short supply` due to its better selling price than the Kona (Photo: THACO).
In 2020, Ford EcoSport was slightly upgraded.
Therefore, EcoSport’s withdrawal from the Vietnamese market is not unexpected by experts.
More than a month after EcoSport announced its `death`, Hyundai Kona was also replaced by a new product, Creta.
Unlike EcoSport and Kona, Honda HR-V, although selling slowly, will still be upgraded to a new generation in June 2022 (Photo: Honda Vinh Phuc).
Compared to Seltos, Hyundai Kona possesses stronger performance and more safety equipment.
`Rookie` almost overthrows `veteran`
TC Motor’s decision to bring back the Hyundai Creta to replace the Kona is the right move.
Hyundai Creta first launched in Vietnam in March 2022, imported complete units from Indonesia in the first phase (Photo: TC Motor).
In the early stages of opening for sale, the number of Creta cars brought to Vietnam was not much, so the situation of `beer with peanuts` quickly occurred at the dealership.
The price increase of Hyundai Creta will last until September 2022 before completely ending when more cars are delivered.
The eye-catching design makes Hyundai Creta quickly catch the `eyes` of Vietnamese customers (Photo: TC Motor).
Since then, Hyundai Creta has continuously `overtaken` Kia Seltos in the B-sized urban SUV segment with sales recording monthly growth.
The reason is because after the increase, the listed price of Hyundai Creta starts from 640 million and reaches a maximum of 740 million VND, still cheaper than Kia Seltos (649 – 769 million VND).
Interior of Hyundai Creta (Photo: TC Motor).
At the end of 2022, Hyundai Creta surprised with yearly sales of 12,096 vehicles, reaching the top best-selling cars of the year.
If launched earlier, Hyundai Creta could have surpassed Kia Seltos right from the first year of sale.
Promising to continue to explode in 2023
Realizing the great attraction of Hyundai Creta, TC Motor has planned to assemble this car model domestically instead of importing complete units to ensure a more stable supply.
The assembled Hyundai Creta has a total of 4 versions, most likely to be introduced to Vietnamese customers right after Lunar New Year (Photo: Vietnam Register).
In the last days of 2022, the Creta assembly was revealed, according to information from the Vietnam Register.
The urban high chassis car class in 2023 promises to continue to be more exciting in 2023 because in addition to names such as Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Honda HR-V or MG ZS, the commercial version of the Mitsubishi XFC Concept will also
Mitsubishi XFC Concept is of interest to Vietnamese customers thanks to its modern, eye-catching design (Photo: Dinh Nam).
Mitsubishi XFC Concept was launched in Vietnam in mid-October 2022 and quickly opened deposits soon after.
Besides, the A-class SUV segment in Vietnam may become more attractive in 2023. Not long ago, the Honda WR-V was just launched in the Indonesian market and some sources said that the Japanese automaker
In Indonesia, Honda WR-V competes directly with Toyota Raize and Kia Sonet (Photo: Cintamobil).
The A-class SUV segment in Vietnam currently has only two names: Toyota Raize and Kia Sonet.