It could be too late, for a while. Despite a "temporary suspension" of second hand car imports by the Ministry of Trade imposed in May, the Saigon Times had already reported sad tales of overextended used car dealers who are down on their luck.
"Its risky to run such a business now, because its difficult to find buyers," sighed proprietor Madame Mai of HCMC.
While second hand imports were halted relatively swiftly, there's no assurance that this move is permanent. According to Vice Director of the Ministry of Trade Le Van Dao, the ban is temporary, and not imposed by his office but that of the Prime Minister, who also cut imports in response to complaints from domestic producers of cement, steel, and paper. "I do not know when this ban will be remitted," said Dao in an interview. "It is temporary and definitely is up to the Prime Minister's office.
" The Ministry of Trade (MoT) is relied upon heavily for its contributions to the national budget and their short-term income would be hit hard by an outright ban.
Seemingly favoring second-hand imports, that ministry also placed a ceiling of 3,500 new vehicle assembly kits for the industry in the beginning of 1997, evoking a blood-curdling scream from automakers in unison, and leading to a March 30 headline in MPI-run Vietnam Investment Review that read "Job cuts loom for car sector" and quoted Toyota execs lamenting that theyd have to shut down their new plant without those parts. That ban was also lifted temporarily.
The Prime Minister's Office, it would seem logical, is operating according to a masterplan that takes each of these factors into account, along with roadway improvements, but that office's officials vehemently declined comment.

Not that it much matters anymore to auto makers. They are in the thick of picking out competitors, markets, and strategies, and politics have mostly taken a back-seat. "I don't care anymore," says a Hanoi-based general manager. "Our fight has switched focus. Before it was regulators, and now its the market. And nothing can be done now. There are too many automakers."
"We should be patient until the market grows fast enough," another industry member, Seiji Fuminashi, deputy general director of Vinastar, a JV producing Japanese Mitsubishi cars and Malaysian Protons, told The Asia Times recently. "But how can we survive up until that time?"
For the biggest fish, one strategy is waiting for the frustrated to give up. In Australia, notes Ford's Gilbert, 15 years ago there were 15 automakers; today there are just three. Says Sean Alexander, a Vietnam-based consultant who covers the auto industry for industry consultancy Automotive Resources Asia, "each time a company leaves, the market becomes more attractive for everyone else."
At the same time, foreign JV auto assemblers here in January formed an informal association to share market information that includes finding consumer demand, approaching parts-making strategies, and observing each others distribution and service programs, which vary greatly, from Toyota's comprehensive service facilities to Fords team of service men that will roam the country, like pioneers with genuine parts.

Yet auto makers must continue to seek to find their places within the government's goals, which, at their highest level, are illustrated by Deputy Minister of Industry Nguyen Xuan Chuan's "Automotive Development Plan," as follows. "If each auto JV manufactured 100,000 units annually valued at $25,000 by the year 2006, the total value of Vietnam's automobile output would be $2.5 billion. Therefore, if these joint ventures reached a ratio of 35% of locally-made parts at that time as scheduled, total value of domestic automobile spare parts would reach $700 million, equivalent to the country's current export proceeds from crude oil."
"Especially if the government is determined to become industrialized by the year 2020, as it has repeatedly stated, the plan is quite logical. As the auto-makers continue to spend millions to build auto-plants, train workers, pay taxes, and increase local content, they commit to becoming key players in Vietnam's bold experiment, a state-planned market economy. The last step is to convince 100,000 Vietnamese to spend $25,000 each on a new car.