Vietnamese consumers turn their back on Chinese motorbikes
Posted on June 26, 2011
NamViet News
Chinese motorbikes, which once flooded Vietnamese market, have become unpopular though they are much cheaper than Vietnam made products. In the eyes of Vietnamese customers, Chinese motorbikes mean low quality and low cost products.
China has now taken over Japan as the largest producer of motorcycles in the world. Yearly, 50 million motorcycles are produced worldwide, and China now produces at least 27.5 million of that figure or a little more than 50% of the total world production.
Chinese motorbikes, which once flooded Vietnamese market, have become unpopular though they are much cheaper than Vietnam made products.
In the eyes of Vietnamese customers, Chinese motorbikes mean low quality and low cost products.
Rush hour in Hanoi
The owner of a motorbike shop on Nguyen Luong Bang Street in Hanoi said that Chinese motorbikes have been selling very slowly, and sometimes he cannot sell any product a month.
Several years ago, Chinese motorbikes once flooded the domestic market thanks to the low prices affordable by low income earners. However, since domestic motorbike manufacturers began diversifying their products, targeting different groups of customers, Chinese motorbikes have become no longer attractive to Vietnamese consumers.
Chinese motorbikes have been gradually eliminated in Hanoi and other big cities.
The problem is that Chinese products do not have good quality which may break down just after a short time of use. Vietnamese customers would rather buy brand new motorbikes on installment plan from domestic manufacturers than using Chinese motorbikes.
It is now difficult to find the motorbike shops that sell Chinese products in Hanoi. Giao duc Vietnam’s reporters once came to 10 big motorbike shops on “motorbike streets” of Kham Thien, Ton Duc Thang and Nguyen Luong Bang to ask for Chinese motorbikes, but they could not find any.
“No one uses Chinese motorbikes nowadays. Why do you still look for the low quality products?” a shop owner asked the reporters.
The shop at No 36 Nguyen Luong Bang street proves to be the only one which is still selling Chinese motorbikes.
Motorbike distributors say that
customers now prefer domestic products to Chinese, because domestic products have become cheaper. Honda, for example, offers the models with reasonable prices, just 13-14 million dong, while SYM has a model priced at 11 million dong only. The price levels fit the pockets of many people, while buyers feel secure about the quality of the products, because they can enjoy the warranty services.
Especially, motorbike buyers now do not have to pay for motorbikes at once, because manufacturers have joined forces with banks and financial institutions to allow buyers to buy on installment.
Binh from the motorbike shop on Nguyen Luong Bang street, said that the motorbikes assembled in Vietnam are also very cheap. Some models are just one million dong more expensive than Chinese ones. Therefore, Vietnam made products have been replacing Chinese ones.
One year ago, a Chinese motorbike could be bought at 4.8 million dong. However, as the input costs and the transport costs have increased,
a Chinese motorbike is selling at 6.5 million dong. The price proves to be unattractive if noting that customers just need to have 10 million dong to be able to possess a motorbike with high quality and good maintenance regime.
Thi, who lives in Long Bien district in Hanoi, said that he never thinks of owning a Chinese motorbike. He said that the domestic motorbike prices are now very reasonable. Meanwhile, those, who do not have enough money, can buy products on installment.
Thang, from Viet Tri City, said that he is seeking to purchase a domestically made motorbike to replace the currently used Chinese one. He said that the Chinese motorbike has degraded seriously just after several years of use. Especially, it gobbles up his money because it always breaks down and consumes much fuel.
Meanwhile, Kien, a student from the Hanoi Architect University, said that he does not have enough money to buy a brand new motorbike. However, he would rather purchase a second hand motorbike than a brand new Chinese one. “The cheapest is the dearest,” he said.
i haven't seen new motorbikes in China for years.they are banned in most 1st and 2nd tier cities.even in rural areas,people prefer electric bicycles which are half price and similar performance of a motorbike.
