VietNamNet Bridge – Angkor EV 2013 is not worth a technology achievement at all. However, analysts believe that it deserves to be a big lesson to Vietnam on what to provide to customers.

It is understandable why the news about Angkor EV 2013 had caught the special attention from the public. Cambodia is known as a poor, developing country with the backward science and technology. Therefore, it seems to be a miracle that the country can manufacture electric cars operated with smart phones.

According to green.autoblog website, Angkor EV 2013 has two seats with the design looked like the minivan Nissan Quest.

The Cambodian automobile manufacturer would import car parts from China and technologies from Germany to make the Angkor EV.

A lot of Vietnamese, after getting stunned by the thunder-like news, feel ashamed about the Vietnamese automobile industry.

Vietnam, after many years of trying to develop the automobile industry, still cannot manufacture cars itself, but simply assembles cars from import car parts.

Chair of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association Nguyen Manh Hung said it is a pity for Vietnam, which began developing the automobile industry very soon, but has lagged behind others.

Meanwhile, other Vietnamese, after “dissecting” Angkor EV, have stated that Vietnamese should not feel jealous of the Cambodian car which is made of nearly 100 percent of car parts imported from China.

hoangnguyetanh...@yahoo.com, a member of an auto forum, wrote he has some doubts about the Cambodian car.

“Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore surely have the higher engineering levels than Cambodia, but they still dare not declare that they can manufacture electric cars,” he wrote.

“How can it (Cambodia) manufacture the cars with its weak technology, with no precise mechanical engineering factories, no assembling workshops?” he continued.

“I guessed the car might be a model designed by a Cambodian, but would be made in China. You may well know the good relation between Cambodia and China at present,” he concluded.

Others members of the forum have commented that Vietnamese people have exaggerated the Cambodian achievement. “Why should we applaud the car? It is just a product assembled from the parts collected from other countries. This is the work Vietnam has been doing over the last many years,” a member wrote.

David Thai, a reader, commented that the Cambodian car is not technology admirable, but it shows Vietnam what to do to develop industries.

“There is a simple principle that no one would spend money to build factories if they see the market is not large enough,” he said.

“In Vietnam, automobile manufacturers have to create products while listening to the news,” he continued. “The domestic automobile industry is still stagnant because of the overly high protection.”

Le Pham Bac from Vinaxuki, a 100 percent Vietnamese automobile corporation, affirmed that Vietnamese absolutely can make the cars operated with smartphone like the one made by Cambodian. However, the problem is the market doesn’t accept such products.

The government approved automobile industry development strategy also mentions the development of electric cars. However, as the market demand is still not big, Vietnamese manufacturers still don’t concentrate on making the models, but on petrol-run models.

Manh Ha