An automobile assembly line at Ford's factory in northern Hai Duong Province. The new "automobile board" aims to help car firms develop their strengths. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

The board will be set up under the Viet Nam Association of Mechanism Industry (VAMI).

The firms include the Viet Nam Engine and Agricultural Machinery Corporation (VEAM), Viet Nam Motors Industry Corporation (Vinamotor), Saigon Transportation Mechanical Corporation (SAMCO), Truong Hai Auto Corporation, Vinaxuki Automobile Company, Factory Z179, the General Department of Defence Industry under the Ministry of National Defence and MDC Center.

This is the first time domestic mechanical, producing and assembling car firms will work together to build a development plan for the sector, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Mechanical Engineering Association Dao Phan Long told online newspaper vnexpress.net.

The companies will focus on developing their own strengths, with those that cannot produce car spare parts, devices and components transferring the work to mechanical firms.

The Finance Ministry issued an order last week amending the vehicle import tariff in keeping with Viet Nam's commitment to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Under the order, the duty on passenger cars will be cut from 67 to 64 per cent. This category includes station wagons, sport cars and motor homes as well as cars with less than 10 seats and an engine capacity of less than 2.5 litres.

Meanwhile, the duty on four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles will be reduced from 70 to 59 per cent, while the import tariff on trucks with a loading capacity of less than five tonnes will be reduced from 59 to 56 per cent. The tariff on motorcycles, sidecars and mopeds will be reduced from 47 to 40 per cent.

The value of imported cars in the first 11 months reached $1.23 billion, a 100.7 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). — VNS