QUANG NAM (Biz Hub) — Truong Hai Automobile Company (Thaco) launched the first locally made Kia Grand Sedona at the Thaco Kia Plant in the central Quang Nam Province's Truong Hai-Chu Lai Auto Complex yesterday.

The seven-seater multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), produced in Viet Nam under an agreement signed between Kia Motor and Thaco in March, comes in two models – 2.2-litre diesel engine and 3.2-litre gasoline engine CRDi (common rail direct fuel injection) – for the Vietnamese market and for export.

The price of the car in Viet Nam is yet to be revealed, but the imported Kia Grand Sedona was sold at VND1.18 billion (US$56,000) for the 2.2-litre diesel engine, and VND1.3 billion ($62,000) for the gasoline engine.

Thaco said Kia Grand Sedona would be a competitive product in Viet Nam in the luxury and MPV segments.

The Chu Lai-Truong Hai Complex produced more than 32,000 vehicles, including 16,000 trucks, in the first six months of this year, an increase of 78 per cent over the same period last year.

The company contributed VND5.3 trillion (US$252 million) to the state budget in the first half of the year.

Kia Sedona Grand introduces in Viet Nam market in 2015. The local car maker, Truong Hai Automobile joint-stock company rolled out its first local made Kia Grand Sedona in Kia Plant in Quang Nam Province yesterday. — Photos courtesy Thaco

The Quang Nam-based car maker also took the lead in car sales, with nearly 28,000 units being sold in five months this year, accounting for 37.5 per cent of the Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturing Association's market share.

The car maker sold 28,284 vehicles last year and recorded a 14 per cent growth, while Kia posted the best sales figure of 8,870 cars.

Thaco has so far manufactured and distributed vehicles of Kia of South Korea, Mazda of Japan and France's Peugeot. — VNS