Russian automaker seeks joint venture in Vietnam

A bus model by Russian car maker GAZ. The Russian car producer is seeking a joint-venture project with a local partner in Da Nang. (Photo: courtesy Thanh Dat Group)

The city’s investment promotion agency (IPA) said GAZ has not yet unveiled their investment and production plan, but the market survey and procedures for the joint-venture has been prepared by the Russian company and its Vietnamese partner.

The plan for the first joint-venture automobile plant project in the city was proposed in a recent meeting with the city’s leadership and Consul General of the Russian Federation in Da Nang Andrey P Brovarets.

Da Nang-based Thanh Dat Group, who bought a stake from the dissolved Da Nang mechanical automobile and electronics company, has offered an existing factory in the Lien Chieu Industrial Zone for GAZ automobile assembling and production for the joint-venture in the near future.

The city has called for more investment from Russia in automobile production, trade and tourism, according to IPA.

At the Vietnam AutoExpo 2018, the Russian car maker GAZ debuted its five types of vehicles to explore the Vietnamese market, including trucks, 19-seat bus, 4x4 trucks, medium-duty cargo and Sadko 4x4 trucks.

In 2013, Malaysia’s Tan Chong Motor Group started production of Nissan cars in the Hoa Khanh industrial zone with total investment of 40 million USD.

It is also the first and only Nissan Sunny assembly plant in central Vietnam, with an annual capacity of 6,500 Nissan Sunny sedan models.

The Japanese Tokai company launched its plant to make plastic and rubber spare parts and accessories for automobiles at Hoa Cam Industrial Zone in 2013.