Kia Grand Carnival cars exported to Thailand (Source: THACO)

It is the second batch of passenger cars that THACO has exported to Thailand, the Southeast Asia’s biggest auto hub, in 2020. Previously, the company delivered 40 of the same cars to Thailand in February.

The vehicles were manufactured at the THACO Kia Plant in THACO Chu Lai Industrial Park in the central province of Quang Nam

As planned, THACO’s importing partner Yontrakit Kia Motor Co., Ltd will continue to place orders in line with the commitments between the two sides, with a total 560 Grand Kia cars to be delivered this year.

The Kia Grand Carnival (known as the Kia Sedona in the Vietnamese market) is equipped with modern features, a spacious interior with 11 seats in four rows, and right-hand drive to meet Thai traffic laws.

With the ambition of expanding its markets and joining the global value chains, over the past years, THACO has exported buses, trucks, cars, and semi-trailers to Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore, Myanmar, Japan, and the US.

So far this year, in addition to the 120 Kia Grand Carnival cars shipped to Thailand, THACO has also exported 80 Kia Cerato cars to Myanmar and 36 semi-trailers and two modular house drawbar trailers to the US.

On July 13, the company plans to ship another 33 semi-trailers for its US partner PITTS Enterprises.
In 2020, THACO aims to export over 1,400 cars of all kinds to Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, the US and Japan, while expanding its market to Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, and Armenia.

Honda Vietnam’s motorcycle sales down, auto sales up in June

Motorcycle sales of Honda Vietnam decreased 3 percent in June, while its auto sales expanded 17 percent, the company unveiled on July 10. 

The company sold 174,755 motorbikes in the month, a drop of 4 percent year-on-year.

The best-selling model was the Wave Alpha, with 40,260 units sold, accounting for 23 percent of Honda Vietnam’s total motorcycle sales.

The Vision was the most popular scooter, with 42,166 units sold, or 24 percent.
The joint venture also exported 10,198 motorcycles in the month.

It delivered 3,188 automobiles to buyers in June, up 17 percent against May and 6 percent from the same period last year.

Honda City, the only domestically-assembled model of Honda Vietnam, accounted for 68 percent of its total auto sales, with 2,183 units sold. This is also the highest sales of the model since it was introduced to the market in Vietnam.

The CR-V was the hottest among imported completely-built unit (CBU) models, with 304 units, making up 10 percent of all Honda automobiles sold.

Vietnamese electric motorbikes to be seen on Chinese, European streets

Many international partners want to cooperate with manufacturer PEGA Vietnam to ship PEGA-S electric motorbikes to China and Europe.

Doan Linh, PEGA Vietnam Chairman, said despite the complex developments of COVID-19, PEGA has still worked to further its reach to international markets, stressing that this is the first time a technological product like motorbike to be exported to China, dubbed as the cradle of electric vehicle manufacturing industry.

PEGA has cooperated with a number of manufacturing and trading partners to sell PEGA-S in Europe, aiming to promote the Vietnamese brand globally, he added.

PEGA-S, the company’s latest and most advanced electric scooter model, was introduced in the domestic market last May at a price of 32.9 million VND (1,417 USD).

Earlier, PEGA signed contracts to export two types of electric motorbikes to Cuba after its partner in the Caribbean nation had successfully tested and assessed the products’ overall quality.

The first contract includes an order of 1,260 PEGA XMEN electric motorbikes with a value of roughly 20 billion VND. The order is currently being completed and preparations made to transport the bikes to Cuba.

The second deal is for the shipment of more than 2,500 PEGA XMEN and PEGA AURA electric motorbikes, worth more than 40 billion VND, with shipment scheduled for August.

PEGA XMEN and PEGA AURA are two popular types of electric motorbikes with 1,200Watt engines. Each electric motorbike can carry up to three people and has the ability to climb slopes with no difficulties. VNA/VNN

Vietnam's automobile market sees 62 percent surge after social distancing

The sales of automobile surged 62 percent month-on-month in May following the end of social distancing measures, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA).

Vietnam struggles to fulfill dream of building an auto industry

Instead of reducing taxes and fees, the State needs to set reasonable policies to develop automobile supporting industries, experts say.