Vietnam’s Kim Long Motors, China’s Yuchai build $260 mln car engine plant

Vietnam’s automobile firm Kim Long Motors and China’s automobile engine manufacturer Yuchai kicked off the construction of a $260-million vehicle engine factory in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on Friday.

The facility is located in the 600-hectare Kim Long Motors Hue Industrial Park, specialized in automobile assembly and manufacturing, within the Chan May-Lang Co Economic Zone.

In the first phase, the plant can enter operation from early Q2/2025, manufacturing engines for vehicles, power generation, agricultural machines, and civil engineering machines.

Initially, the factory will produce and assemble internal combustion (diesel-fired) engines, CNG-fired engines, and electric engines, with a capacity of more than 12,000 units per year.

In the second phase, the factory will manufacture vehicle clutches and gearboxes.

Its products will serve both the domestic and overseas markets.

At the event, Kim Long Motors also launched 60 units of its self-developed Kim Long 99 sleeper bus, featuring Vietnamese design and technologies from South Korea, China, and the U.S. such as Yuchai K11 engines.

Speaking at the event, Thua Thien-Hue Vice Chairman Phan Quy Phuong said the provincial authorities would enhance cooperating with the business as the firm is preparing to raise its investment to VND21 trillion ($840.8 million).

Members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA), not including VinFast and Hyundai, sold 163,804 units in the first seven months of 2024, up 1% year-on-year.

The figure is an improvement after a long slump. The automobile market dropped 25% to 301,989 units in 2023 and inched down 2% to 134,884 in the first half of 2024, year-on-year. The market grew 33% to 404,635 in 2022.