Cheap Chinese, Korean scooters flood HCM City

Demand for luxury or at least superficially deluxe scooters in HCM City has surged ahead of Tet, the major Lunar New Year holiday in Vietnam, with cheap imitation Chinese and Korean bikes on offer.

At a shop in district 5, an energetic salesgirl said Dyor is now in high demand as it bears great resemblance to Honda Dylan but costs less than 30 million dong (US$1,875) while the latter fetches at least US$4,500.

As Tet is only around 10 days away, the shop offers free authentic Dylan stickers and even have the marker “Made in China” on the Dyor removed for a fee of 1.3-1.5 million dong (US$87).

The Chinese Dyor would then easily pass for a Dylan.

Many people now turn to cheap scooters made by China and the Republic of Korea as they fit their purses, a salesman said.

A Korean ESH costs only a little over 30 million dong (US$1,875) while it bears a striking resemblance to a Honda SH that costs over US$6,000.

Late Last year, Pham Thi Cuc in Binh Thanh district bought a @Stream made by Honda in China from a very large shop for 27.5 million dong Monday.

Only after she needed money and decided to sell it did she find out it was a SDH-125, produced by a Chinese firm and costs only dong 20 million.

After she complained to the authorities, the shop agreed to take it back for dong 21 million, meaning dong 6.5 million was lost in the exchange.

 

Category: Business