The State-run Vietnam Motors Industry Corp., or Vinamotor, set to be one of four backbones of Vietnam’s automobile industry by 2015, plans to manufacture 19,300 automobiles in 2006, up 42.49 per cent on year although car sales in the domestic market are falling.
The soaring production plan is the result of quick sales of Vinamotor vehicles in the domestic market although sales by most other firms in the country have kept falling for nearly a year, a corporate official said. “The average annual growth of Vinamotor is 45 per cent in recent years,” he added.
Last year, Vinamotor turned out 11,100 automobiles in 2005, much lower than its initial target of 17,000 units but much higher than the volume it assembled in 2004 with 7,767 units.
Meanwhile, sales by 11 foreign-led carmakers, which are dominating the Vietnamese automotive industry, dropped 32 per cent in the first three months of this year.
Currently, Vinamotor’s Transinco-trademarked buses account for 90 per cent of the market segment while trucks make up 30 per cent of the domestic market segment.
Since 2005, Vinamotor began exporting its vehicles abroad with the first destination being Dominica.
Vinamotor, the largest domestic carmaker, will reach a production capacity of 100,000 cars a year as several construction facilities are completed this year. Most of Vinamotor vehicles are made under Hyundai technologies.
Apart from automobiles, the State-run firm also manufactures motorbikes.
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