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Thursday August 2, 2:31 PMBudget Models Jump-Start Vietnam's Car MarketHANOI, Aug 2 Asia Pulse - The recent rolling out of budget cars by local companies has ignited the domestic automobile market, with experts saying the move will significantly increase car ownership in Vietnam.While the Malaysian company JRD Vietnam last month introduced six models with prices ranging from US$10,900 to $18,900, local Duc Phuong company offered two models at $11,500 and $13,500. "The Malaysian JRD Company is very brave to invest in budget car production in Vietnam," said Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Association, Nguyen Xuan Chuan. The former industry deputy minister said the appearance of budget cars on the market would help reduce the cost of cars in Vietnam, which is considered one of most expensive automobile markets in the world. "I think the story of the budget car will be the same as that of the budget motorbike seven years ago. The appearance of budget motorbikes helped popularise motorcycle use in Vietnam. This will give more people the chance to own their own car," Chuan said. Based in the southern province of Binh Duong, the $50 million JRD Vietnam plant can churn out up to 2,000 cars a month. "We hope our products will give a push to the local budget car market," said JDR Chairman Dato' Jimmy Liew. JDR's cheapest product, the Travel compact sedan, retailing at $10,900, is in the same class as the locally made GM Daewoo Matiz ($13,900) and the imported Kia Morning ($18,000). Meanwhile, the Duc Phuong company reported it had sold five cars a day since the first budget model rolled out of its Nam Dinh Province plant two weeks ago. "We made a very careful survey of the market before introducing these models, because cars made using Chinese parts are still not very well known in Vietnam," Duc Phuong's General Manager Vu Dinh Ngoc said. Truong Hai Automobile Company, the country's biggest truck maker, recently said it would invest VND220 billion ($13.75 million) in an automobile assembly plant in the Chu Lai Economic Zone to produce the budget Kia Morning with an expected price of less than $15,000. (VNA) |
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