Interesting Observation in Saigon. 3d/3n Family trip

 Interesting Observation in Saigon.  3d/3n Family trip

I just came back from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) yesterday (17 August).  Interesting observation.  First observation: Left Hand Drive vehicles.  Second Observation: Saigon's Infested with Kapcais and Scooters.  Lots and lots of them.  They were everywhere!!!

Next observation, 70/100 (70%) vehicles there were Toyota OR Lexus.  50% were either MPV or SUV.  Heck, most of their taxis were either Toyota Vios OR Innova MPV. 

Most popular in its class includes:



Toyota Vios, Innova, Hiace, Fortuner, Altis, Camry, Sienna MPV, Highlander.

ABOVE AND BELOW: 5 Toyotas and 7 Toyotas in a ROW Respectively.

SAIGON'S Best Selling Vehicle: Toyota INNOVA.  Followed by Toyota (YAWN!) Vios.

ABOVE: NEW TOYOTA HIGHLANDER.  Below: Toyota SIENNA.

LEXUS: LS460, RX350 Harrier, ES, LX470 (Landcruiser)

ABOVE: LEXUS NEW ES330.

ABOVE: SAIGON'S MOST POPULAR CAR ACCESSORIES. Rear Kangaroo Bar.  8/10 cars have it...


Popular NON-Toyotas:
Honda Civic FD, Honda Odyssey US 3.8 V6, Chevrolet Captiva, Ford Transit, Mercedes Sprinter (Mostly Luxury Taxi), Ford Everest, Hyundai i10 and i30, Mitsubishi Jolie (same as Kuda 4G18 in Indonesia), Audi Q7 SUV, Porsche Cayenne, Mercedes E-class, BMW 3 series.

Above: Mercedes Sprinter "Business Class" Executive Limo

Above: Mitsubishi Jolie

Above: Hyundai i10, Below: Hyundai i30 Wagon.

Above: Honda Odyssey US 3.8 V6.

NEVER SEEN BEFORE CARS:

HYUNDAI VERACRUZ SUV 3.8 V6, 7 seater.

Nissan NEW Pathfinder

UN-Popular Cars:

Nissan (only seen 5 Nissans in Saigon in my 3 days/3 nights stay.
Mazda (same as above)
Volvo, Chrysler/Jeep (passed their showroom but hardly see any on the road), HUMMER, Volkswagen.

AUTOCAR ASEAN VIETNAM: 


I flipped thru AUTOCAR ASEAN Vietnam and glanced thru their vehicle price lists.  Here's what I found:
Most Popular Car: Vios G spec is 895 million Dong (RM55,000)
Most popular MPV: Innova Basic costs the Same as above.
Honda Civic 2.0 IVTEC costs RM90,000.  Almost identical with my dad's Civic except it's LHD and has Glass Sunroof (+) and 16" Rims instead of 17"(-).

Also, ONLY CKD Car's Cheap.  Korean cars were cheap too. Only CBU Premium Costs as much as Malaysia.  Eg. BMW, Audi, Porsche, Volvo, Mercedes Benz.  Some sort of LUXURY TAX.

Well, there's a saying, a picture's worth 1000 words.  Here are some pictures:

Where I stayed 3 days and 3 nights in Saigon...

Saigon's LARGEST Wet Market.  1000+ shops...

Saigon Local beer...

An Dong Plaza.  Saigon's version of Sungai Wang plaza.

Famous ICE CREAM PARLOUR.

HSBC Saigon.

Traditional Vietnamese Kuih Shop.

Red Devil Energy Drink

Notre Dame Cathedral.  Built by the French in 1880.

Saigon WAR Memorial Museum.  NO AIRCOND.  SAUNA Inside.

Above: Many names changes of Saigon.  As seen in the War Museum.  TOOK LOTS OF PICTURES there...  But since this is an AUTOMOTIVE BLOG, I'm not going to BORE you with those photos...

Above: Where my Dad worked...

VINCOM Centre.  Pavilion equivalent of Saigon.

PHO 2000.  Famous Vietnamese FULLY Air Cond Restaurant.

Above: PHO 2000 where Bill Clinton visited in November 19, 2000.  Double click to enlarge...

SAIGON POST OFFICE.  Estd. 1869.

Saigon Opera House.

CLOUDS.  Taken from AirAsia Airbus A320's window.

BACK TO LCCT.

That's all folks, hope you enjoy this PAINSTAKINGLY Created Blog entry.  Took me 2 hours to upload and draft this blog entry.  An Original Otoreview's production.  Jeff Lim's original work.