Vietnam automaker TMT eyes sales of 5,525 mini electric vehicles

Vietnam’s TMT Motors plans to introduce mini electric vehicles (EVs) in the third quarter of this year and sell 5,525 units in Q4.

The firm also aims to sell 1,270 heavy trucks and 5,488 light trucks in 2023, up 8.4% and 17.26% year-on-year, respectively, said Bui Quoc Cong, vice chairman, at the firm’s annual general meeting on Monday.

In total, TMT Motors, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as TMT, plans to sell 12,283 vehicles this year, doubling 2022's figure.

Cong said commercial vehicles remain the key sector for TMT, while EVs are a strategic target for the future. Initially, TMT will focus on mini EVs as this product is not available in Vietnam yet, then deploy class-A, class-B, and class-C EVs.

In 2022, TMT sold 5,852 vehicles, including 1,172 heavy trucks and 4,680 light trucks. It recorded a post-tax profit of VND48.4 billion ($2.06 million) on a net revenue of VND3.03 trillion ($128.95 million), up 17% and 20% year-on-year, respectively.

In February, the company signed a deal with the GM-(Saic-Wuling) joint venture to exclusively manufacture, assemble, and distribute Wuling mini EVs in Vietnam. The foreign partner, a joint venture between U.S.-based General Motors (GM) and China’s Saic Motor and Wuling Motors, will provide components to the Vietnamese automaker.

The TMT Motors factory in the northern province of Hung Yen is set to annually manufacture 30,000 units of the mini vehicle and more, as TMT Motors is considering other models for production in the cooperation.

Initially, the firm is set to sell Wuling HongGuang MiniEV models in Vietnam. In China, the home market, the vehicle has an affordable price of between $4,800 and $14,700.

In Vietnam, the EV market has welcomed or is set to welcome many models of different brands this year, including the KIA EV6 of the South Korean brand, Mercedes-Benz EQS of the German player, MG4 of the British brand MG, Mitsubishi XFC of the Japanese automaker, and VF8 and VF9 of local automaker VinFast.