Similar to electric vehicles, the electrified vehicle segment in Vietnam recorded a strong increase in purchasing power during the first six months of 2026. The market sold 11,020 hybrid vehicles, an 87,2% increase compared to the same period in 2025. This figure does not fully reflect the market capacity, as brands like Kia, Hyundai, and Suzuki do not disclose specific sales data for the hybrid versions of Sorento, Sportage, Carnival, Santa Fe, and Fronx.

According to a sales director at an authorized Japanese car dealership in TP HCM, one of the main drivers for the overall strong increase in hybrid car sales compared to the first half of 2025 is the more attractive pricing of many hybrid models. Starting in 2026, self-charging hybrid electric vehicles (FHEV) with gasoline usage not exceeding 70% of total energy benefit from a 30% reduction in special consumption tax (TTDB) compared to internal combustion engine vehicles of the same displacement, as stipulated by Decree 360/2025.

Meeting state regulations allowed Toyota to reduce the retail prices of all hybrid versions across five product lines: Altis, Camry, Yaris Cross, Corolla Cross, Innova Cross, and Alphard. Reductions ranged from 37-200 million dong, depending on the model. Kia implemented similar price adjustments for the hybrid version of the Carnival.

Honda also reduced the retail price of the CR-V hybrid by tens of millions of dong starting in february. Although the HR-V hybrid did not qualify for the preferential tax, Honda lowered its price to enhance competitiveness in the segment.

Corolla Cross hybrid operating in Dak Lak. Photo: TMV

Toyota holds the largest number of hybrid vehicles in the industry. The five hybrid models mentioned above contributed 7,081 vehicles to Toyota's total sales, securing approximately 64,3% of the market share and leading the hybrid vehicle segment in Vietnam.

Most of Toyota's key hybrid models, such as the Corolla Cross, Innova Cross, and Yaris Cross, experienced strong growth in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. In contrast, Camry sales decreased due to a version restructuring, while Altis saw declining supply before being discontinued.

The Corolla Cross was the best-selling model in the hybrid vehicle segment during the first half of 2026. Its hybrid version, accounting for 75% of total sales, is currently more appealing to buyers than the pure gasoline variant.

Honda's hybrid versions of the CR-V, Civic, and HR-V also saw strong sales increases compared to the first half of 2025. With the exception of the HR-V, the hybrid versions of the CR-V and Civic outsold their pure internal combustion engine counterparts. Honda sold a total of 2,789 hybrid vehicles, capturing approximately 25% of the market share.

Suzuki continues to focus on the MHEV configuration. While the fuel efficiency of this technology is less pronounced than FHEV, it offers a lower cost and reduced battery maintenance and replacement expenses. MHEV versions of the XL7 and Swift sold 1,150 vehicles, representing approximately 10,4% of the overall hybrid segment market share.

The hybrid vehicle market also includes options from brands like Subaru, BYD, Geely, and Lynk & Co, though these manufacturers do not disclose sales figures.

With 11,020 units sold, hybrid vehicles constituted approximately 3,4% of the total new vehicle sales across the industry (328,818 vehicles) in the first half of 2026. In the same period of 2025, 5,888 hybrid vehicles accounted for about 2,3% of total new car sales. Thus, the hybrid vehicle market share in the first half of 2026 increased by 1,1 percentage points compared to the first half of 2025.

In other segments of the market during the first half of 2026, battery electric vehicles (BEV) sold 115,986 units, accounting for approximately 35,3% of the market share. Internal combustion engine vehicles held the largest share at about 61,4%, with 201,812 units sold, according to data from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA), VinFast, and Hyundai Thanh Cong.

Thanh Nhan