July 21, 2018

Lao car dealers come up with new policies to boost sales

By:   Ekaphone Phouthonesy, Vientiane Times, July 19, 2018

VIENTIANE - A number of car dealers in Vientiane have renewed marketing strategies to boost sales of their vehicles as they have been hit by lack of purchasing power in the capital.

Dealers of Japanese, Korean, American and Chinese brands have introduced various sales promotion policies. Some of them offer price cuts, others offer lower interest rates for loans while many offer additional services in the hope that such moves will attract the attention of customers.

A Toyota car dealer announced on its social media platform that it would now offer a clearance sale. This promotion will reduce the price of its cars considerably. For example, the price of the popular Toyota Fortuner has been dropped from US$54,000 per unit to just about US$51,400 per unit. Other details of sale promotions are accessible on the websites of the car dealers.

In addition to price cuts, car dealers have increased their efforts to reach out to customers using multiple media channels, including print and electronic media. They also use social media platforms and YouTube channels to advertise their products. This is making the car market in the capital very competitive.

A number of car sales people told Vientiane Times that the drop in car sales over the past months has forced them to revise their marketing policies so that they can attract the attention of people who are looking for an opportunity to purchase vehicles.

They also said car sales in Laos were now very competitive due to the fact that there has been an inflow of new car dealers in the market. The Lao car market has welcomed more Japanese, American, Korean and Chinese car brands, they said.

“The new car dealers are offering big price cuts to attract the attention of customers. This has forced other car dealers to use the same strategies,” said a car dealership owner who has been closely monitoring the market in Laos.

He predicted that the price of vehicles in Laos would continue to stay stable or even fall in the coming years due to lower purchasing power. He added that a large number of people already own a car and have no need to buy more vehicles.

An analysis showed that in addition to the fact that many Lao people already own cars, slower economic growth and suspension of state infrastructure development projects are among the factors that have resulted in a lower demand for cars in Laos.

State infrastructure projects injected a large amount of money into the Lao economy over the past few years. This increased the overall purchasing power in the country.

Subsequently, the demand for cars in the country grew and their priced increased.

The analysis also found that car sales are expected to recover over the next two years in parallel with Lao economic growth, which is projected to recover after major hydropower projects kick off commercial operations and generate revenue for the economy.

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