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People who have money don't want to buy small cars

95% of Fortuners and Innovas (also 7 passenger) on the road are not actually driven by the owner the car. They are bought and leased by companies who then hire drivers to chauffeur the CEO or director of that company around. My boss leases an Innova for me. It's actually a crappy car but it gets the job done. Of the very few people who do own these 7 passenger cars, I suspect they actually need them due to having a larger family. I personally know over 100 people who get driven around in one of those 2 cars and not one single one of them actually own the car.

Also very few wealthy people would actually want to purchase an Innova as their personal car as its on the very low end of the spectrum when it comes to pricing and image here in Vietnam (and In Vietnam image is everything). An Innova can be had for around $40,000  while a 4 passenger Camry can cost up to $70,000 depending on options and engine size. Most people unless they desperately  needed 7 passenger seating would buy a Camry or similiar vehicle instead of the Innova. Anyone who has the money would just splurge on a Q7 (over $175,000 USD) or X5. If someone personally wanted an SUV and didn't need seating for 7 they would opt for the Honda CRV, Audi Q5 or the Mazda CX-5. All these cost substantially more than the Innova or Fortuner. Again most of those cars are leased or bought out for company use. They are essentially fleet vehicles, which is why all MaiLinh and VINASUN 7 passenger cars are Innovas. Most families that do own personal cars have 4 passenger cars such as the Camry, Toyota vios, Mazda 3, kia morning etc but they are outnumbered severely by 7 passenger cars.

Car ownership, through taxation and exemption is an instrument of the regime and a privilege of being loyal to it.

This guy upset someone higher up than him and lost such a privilege but he's not the only one doing it.



Now let's say you're an honest successful Vietnamese citizen who can afford to buy a car, It's a pretty hard pill to swallow having to pay more than double what any other citizen of the world pays for the same vehicle.

To answer your question, only the really really rich in Vietnam can afford cars and if they are rich then they buy big expensive ones.

I wouldn't be in a hurry to buy a car now. With Vietnam looking to get TPP-type agreements with other countries that don't like trade barriers, the 100% taxation of cars is going to drop. So you would lose a lot when you want to trade in your 2017 car in 3 years.

When I first got a job offer from my old company, which required me to go from my home (in district 1) to Binh Duong a lot, I demanded a car. So the company bought an Innova for me to use. 7-seater was preferred to transport stuff and gear.

After 1 year, I told my ex-boss it's better to change to a Fortuner. The reason was that a Fortuner is higher as some roads in Binh Duong can be crappy and flooded. More space for gears and for me to sleep on the way to Binh Duong.

I didn't care what brand it is but the company preferred to buy Toyota because it still has the reputation from its good old days being Japanese quality and has an incredible sell price after used. I personally think both Innova and Fortuner are crap.

My current boss has a Mercedes S550 for daily use and a GLK 7-seater for golfing days. It's all about good image.

Everyone has his own intention and purpose when it comes to buying car.

The previous article about the Lexus with blue government plates wasn't even the one i was trying to find.



Luxury Lexus SUV's, the car of choice for corrupt Vietnamese police officers.

I have a 7 seat Kia Carens, full auto (all the gadgets) cost me $32,000 in 2013 and has just clicked over 20,000 km.

I bought it to fit in the parents-in-law (child carers), after planning to have two kids.  Occasionally used with a driver (I hate driving in HCMC) and that takes up all the seats.