Thaco to make Peugeot cars in Vietnam

April 15, 2013 | 15:21

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French automaker Peugeot is returning to Vietnam via an assembly alliance with its new Vietnamese partner Thaco.

Jean Yves Dossal, Peugeot commercial director for Asian operations, and Thaco chairman Tran Ba Duong signed a deal in Ho Chi Minh City April 8 on a distribution network in Vietnam, and local production of the French automaker’s 408 model.

The agreement made Thaco the sole distributor of Peugeot cars in Vietnam, where the French firm was present through the 1980s before withdrawing from the country.

Duong said in 2013, five Peugeot showrooms would open in Hanoi and Thai Nguyen in the north, Vinh in the central region, and Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong in the south. The number was expected to increase to 15 by 2014.

He added Peugeot 408 would hit the street in Vietnam by late 2013, and the partnership planned to make another model available next year. The 408 sedan is already sold in China and Latin America.

Peugeot said it expected to locally produce around 80 per cent of all the vehicles it sells in Vietnam. It would transfer technology to Thaco. The Vietnamese company’s engineers and staff would also be responsible for customer services.

The two sides’ signing ceremony was witnessed by visiting French Minister of Exterior Commerce Nicole Bricq and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa, during the France-Vietnam Business Forum.

By Tuong Thuy

vir.com.vn

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