Economics
Toyota to Ford Brace for Vietnam Import Influx: Southeast Asia
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After almost two decades of waiting for Vietnamese consumers to become rich enough to afford cars, manufacturers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co. will have to contend with cheaper imports.
Current Vietnamese duties of 60 percent will be eliminated by 2018 for cars imported from within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Met Arias, chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association and managing director of Ford’s unit in the country, said in an interview Oct. 23. Without a major parts industry, car production costs are higher than elsewhere in the region because of taxes on imported components, he said.