Thaco exports bus parts to Russia
Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco) has exported three sets of bus parts to Russia to gauge the market there and if things go well, the local firm will ship 300 sets by the year-end, said Tran Ba Duong, chairman of Thaco.
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Speaking at a recent seminar on supporting industries in HCMC, Duong said the company is boosting the manufacture of auto parts to increase the local content of its vehicles to 40% and at the same time export some to foreign markets. Thaco now has four auto production and assembly plants and 16 auto parts factories.
In April 2016, Thaco broke ground for a project to expand its automotive engineering complex Chu Lai-Truong Hai in Quang Nam Province to 268 hectares.
The project includes a new passenger car factory with an annual capacity of up to 100,000 units. Thaco said the other factories would be able to turn out over 100,000 trucks, 12,000 minivans of 12-16 seats, and 8,000 bigger buses.
As part of its business strategy, Thaco will expand Chu Lai-Truong Hai Port and establish shipping routes to ports in Japan, South Korea and China to cut shipping time and cost.
According to experts, the auto industry holds huge potential but faces mounting competition as tariffs on completely-built-up autos imported from ASEAN nations will be cut to 0% in 2018.
The production cost of autos in Vietnam is nearly 20% higher than in Thailand and Indonesia.
